Amid the sweeping Omicron variant juggernaut, updated, factual data on the virus is of paramount importance at all times.
And Batangas should not be an exemption. Unfortunately, its level of reporting on daily updates is wanting.
It seems that Provincial Health Office Director Dr. Rozvilinda Ozaeta is only at her finest when reporting live during the twice-monthly virtual meetings of the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas is the chairman of provincial IATF-MEID and Dr. Ozaeta is co-chair.
Reports by her department seemed A-Okay, seamless before the provincial IATF.
Why cannot it give a factual data on daily Covid cases simply boggles the mind?
Case in points is PHO’s January 8 report claiming the whole province only had seven (7) new positive cases: six (6) from Batangas City and one (1) from Ibaan town.
That report gives one the false lead to go ahead with his/her plan to visit relatives anywhere in the province as Covid cases (as reported) still looks encouraging.
But in reality, however, the real score should already tell someone otherwise, to just stay home as cases are rising and that the possibility getting the virus is so high because on that day Batangas City actually had 66 new positive cases and not six (6) as reported by PHO.
The PHO also erred bigtime as on the same day (08 January 2022) as other local government units like Lipa City also had 65 but was excluded in PHO’s report for the day.
Factual report could save lives, curb the spread of Covid.