DOH admits ‘disconnect’ between data, COVID-19 situation on the ground

The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday admitted that there was a "disconnect" between their data and the actual situation on the ground regarding COVID-19 cases in the country.

"We are trying to monitor the situation. There is a kind of disconnect dahil siyempre po ang ating mga ospital nagsusumite sila ng confirmed positive individuals. 'Yun pong mga suspects and probable na nailalagak din sa mga ospital natin ay hindi po nabibilang nang husto," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at the Laging Handa public briefing.

(Our hospitals submit confirmed positive individuals. But suspected and probable cases also admitted in hospitals are not being counted properly.)

"We are trying to coordinate now with our hospitals so that they will also report to us the suspects and probable cases," she said.

Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic response team of the University of the Philippines urged authorities to tackle unaddressed data inconsistencies regarding COVID-19 cases.

According to the team, there are issues such as the continuing mismatch between the Department of Health (DOH) and LGU numbers, alarming errors in patient-level data, inconsistencies in coding, and inconsistencies in the use of date formats.

The DOH last year apologized for the mistakes in its daily situationer reports that made the rounds on social media after some netizens noticed an erroneous bar graph. — DVM, GMA News