Labella admits problem on data

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella admitted there was a problem in synchronizing the reports on COVID-19 data from Cebu City Health Department and the Department of Health in Central Visayas.

"In many instances there were discrepancies. The Department of Health regional office submitted a different data and also the City Health Office has another data," said Labella.

"In fact, there were many instances that the discrepancy reached the national office, so there was really a need to harmonize," he added.

Labella, however, said the problem was already ironed out. To avoid conflicting data, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist of DOH-7, will henceforth make the official pronouncement on the data.

The CHD on Monday announced that it will no longer post on its official Facebook page updates on the COVID-19 cases.

DOH-7 Director Jaime Bernadas said that providing uniform and harmonized data is the area that they have been trying to work out.

"It has been really found that our data from the regional office could be delayed for 24 hours because of validation, errors and duplication, and those that are repeat examinations," said Bernadas.

Bernadas explained that these are all to be cleaned up before releasing to the media.

"This was the request that we were posing to the different local government units so as not to give contrasting figures so that we could release the data more accurately," said Bernadas.

"We are also asking the media for some support so that we could at least give you a unified data even if it could mean 24 hours of delay. In a matter, this will be a complete and corrected data," he added.

Based on the DOH-7 Official Facebook Page, as of July 6, 2020, the total confirmed cases in Central Visayas is at 10,506. Of this number, 6,870 cases are from Cebu City, with 3,750 active cases and 2,869 recoveries. The total number of deaths is at 250 FPL. (FREEMAN)