![[OPINION] An open letter to DOH’s communications team](https://i.headtopics.com/images/2020/4/6/rapplerdotcom/opinion-an-open-letter-to-doh-s-communications-team-1247085166432071681.webp)
'Please stay true to your commitment, DOH. Let us help each other inform the citizenry properly, because if we fail to do this, we cannot heal as one.' Opinion COVID19PH
– would be greatly improved if the concerned government agencies in our country were able to report the testing data in the clearest, most accurate way possible.you put up for the public. I’ve seen how it has evolved and improved since the Philippines recorded its first case of infection. Futhermore, your daily virtual briefings have also done much to inform us on how the government’s response to this crisis is progressing.
Then on Sunday, April 5, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reported that the number of tested individuals had risen to 19,000, while the DOH tracker showed that only around 6,000 people had been tested. We've also noticed that the figures of confirmed cases, individuals who've tested negative, and those waiting for results weren't adding up. The sum total of these 3 categories should be equal to the number of individuals tested, but recently, this hasn't been the case.
The DOH also used to release bulletins with the latest updates. They included fresh figures on deaths and recoveries, information on the new cases, which hospitals these cases were admitted in, their travel history, when their symptoms began, etc. Through these bulletins, the DOH helped by being transparent. However, they have stopped sending these updates.