Two barangay officials in Pasay City have called the attention of OCTA about erroneous number of Covid-19 cases in their villages, stressing that the research group must double check its figures before reporting about jump in cases.
They noted that any erroneous data released by OCTA especially about the jump in cases could cause undue panic and alarm, since the UP-based group has already become a legitimate source of information as far as developments on Covid-19 cases in the country are concerned.
STRESSING that there is an extreme need for accurate reporting on matters related to Covid-19 cases, two barangay leaders of Pasay City today advised the OCTA Research Group to double check first their data before releasing any statements to the public.
They noted that any erroneous data released by OCTA especially about the jump in cases could cause undue panic and alarm, since the UP-based group has already become a legitimate source of information as far as developments on Covid-19 cases in the country are concerned.
“Dapat po na siguruhin ng OCTA ang mga sinasabi nila. Mahirap po kasi na magbigay sila ng maling impormasyon sapagkat maaaring magdulot ito ng takot at kalituhan sa ating mga mamamayan,” said Rimel Ramiro of Barangay 76 Health Emergency Response Team.
He was reacting to Ivan Mayrina’s report on “24 Oras,” in which the OCTA Research group said that 128 new cases were recorded in Barangay 76 in the past week, which was equivalent to 18 cases per day.
Ramiro said Barangay 76 only has 12 cases and recorded only four cases in the past two weeks.
“Maling-mali po iyong bilang na iyon. Hindi namin alam kung saan nakuha ng OCTA iyon,” Ramiro said.
Data from the city public information office also showed that there were only 154 confirmed cases in the barangay since the start of pandemic.
Chairman Zengel La Torre of Barangay 59 also belied the data from OCTA, which said that it has recorded 59 cases in the past week.
According to La Torre, the truth is their barangay has recorded only 28 cases since the pandemic.
“Sigurado po ako na hindi tama ‘yung datos na ‘yan. Most likely, typographical o kung ano man pong pagkakamali. Pero as of now po, as per our records and as per PIO, nasa six cases po kami, two ang newly recovered,” La Torre said.
This developed as Pasay Public Information Office chief Jun Burgos reported that the city has already lifted the localized lockdowns on 20 barangays after all the patients in the said areas have already fully recovered.
He said these are Barangays 118, 28, 32, 40, 57, 58, 81, 95, 98, 100, 107, 122, 132, 143, 155, 156, 175, 178, 190, and 192.
To recall, the local government has placed at least 77 barangays under localized lockdown to spread the spread of the virus in the city.
“Ang ibig sabihin po nito na tinanggal natin ang localized lockdown sa 20 barangay ay bumababa ang kaso ng Covid-19 dito sa lungsod na taliwas sa mga ulat na nakukuha ng OCTA,” Burgos said.
Meanwhile, an epidemiologist has urged the public to get tested for Covid-19 earlier to prevent further transmission and mutation.
Dr. John Wong, resident epidemiologist of the Department of Health, said delayed testing was one of the factors in the increasing positivity rate.
“On the average, it takes three days for an asymptomatic person to go get tested, in those three days, they could be infecting their household members or people at work,” Wong said.
“People should seek testing much earlier,” he added.
According to the World Health Organization, the incubation period of the virus that causes COVID-19 ranges from five to 14 days.