By Joseph B.A. Marzan
A post on the Iloilo provincial government’s official social media accounts reporting two new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in two towns caused panic and confusion among netizens Saturday evening.
The Iloilo Capitol’s social media account “Balita Halin sa Kapitolyo” claimed two new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the towns of Maasin and San Enrique.
But it was later learned that the two cases were located in Manila and Cebu, not in the towns which was listed as their home addresses.
The controversial post was later deleted and the Capitol’s social media operators apologized for the erroneous report.
TOWN MAYORS REACT
Mayors Francis Amboy of Maasin and Trixie Fernandez of San Enrique quickly allayed the fears of their residents through radio interviews on Saturday.
Amboy confirmed that the resident of Maasin was a male seafarer currently staying in Cebu.
“As what we know, the resident of Maasin who wanted to go home to Iloilo is currently in Cebu. He was supposed to be repatriated here already but before that, he was tested and it turned out that he was positive for [COVID-19], that’s why we held him off in Cebu for now. We’ve already communicated with him on what we can do to help, but he hasn’t been back here yet,” Amboy said.
He assured his residents that they are doing everything in responding to the situation.
“I’m calling out to the residents of the town, we are working hard and are standing by on this situation. We are constantly communicating with our resident and we remain attentive to his needs,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fernandez clarified that the patient was a 30-year-old male seafarer currently staying in Manila.
She said she got calls from residents asking for further details on the patient.
She added that he was part of around 100 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were supposed to fly home to Iloilo last April 14.
On April 13, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. and town mayors signed a letter asking the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to stop the entry of OFWs into the province.
“I’d like to clarify that the address in the DOH (Department of Health) tracker indicates their residence is in San Enrique, but actually, the location of the positive case is in Manila. He is from San Enrique but his current location is in Manila. He was actually part of the batch of OFWs who were supposed to return here previously but was stopped. He is currently in Manila under the custody of the [Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration]. We’ll try to get hold of him [on Sunday]. I’d like to clarify to our residents that there is no need to panic,” Fernandez said.
She also said that the OFW already showed symptoms before he was supposed to fly home.
CONFUSION ON DOH TRACKER
Balita Halin sa Kapitolyo page confirmed to Daily Guardian that their report was based on the DOH tracker.
Fernandez said that the tracker indicated that the OFW’s residence was in San Enrique, which may have caused the confusion.
On April 22, DOH spokesperson Dr. Renilyn Reyes said the agency’s tracker initially reports cases based on their residence but they later update the information according to the patient’s location.
“We’ve tagged more cases in Western Visayas because it is their area of residence, but it turned out, after validation that their current residence is in either [in the National Capital Region] or other regions, so [it is different] in the national tracker,” Reyes said.