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SEN. Nancy Binay called Department of Health (DOH) officials over the weekend for “twisting the facts” about the origin of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the country.
“Why do you have to twist, change the facts?” Senator Binay asked after health officials retracted earlier findings that the deadly virus originated from Chinese tourists from Wuhan who arrived in January.
Binay surmised that the DOH officials’ change of course “just means that the government failed to trace contacts.”
He regretted the apparent efforts of Health Department officials to “distort the facts and sow misinformation about Covid and how it began to spread in the country.”
He recalled that the DOH itself reported in January that two Chinese tourists from Wuhan City were positively identified as the first carriers of the new coronavirus in the Philippines.
In a statement, the senator asked in a mixture of English and Filipino: “Really ?! So, Covid in the Philippines didn’t come from Chinese tourists? But would the DOH be willing to explain to us who brought it in and how Covid got away here? “
Binay said that “by saying ‘Covid’ is not enough evidence of Chinese tourists [evidence is not enough to prove that Covid came from Chinese tourists] he is practically admitting that they are a contact tracing flaw, which explains why they failed to stop the spread of the virus, and continue to do so. ”
He called on DOH to stop twisting the facts to appease other people or countries.
In addition, he reminded them that “the same reason that the Covid problem remains unsolved is because the DOH continues to give a vague picture of the situation. That’s why we can’t solve the problem because someone has to cover up something first, even if there is clearly a solution. “
Binay urged Health Department officials “to act together and stop making reckless, irresponsible and misinterpreted comments.”
He reminded them that “when politics co-opts public health, the facts change and the answers also change, so the solution does not match the problem and people must accept a capital error.”
Binay warned that “allowing members of the bureaucracy to change and misrepresent the facts about public health to fit a narrative only exposes the country to greater risks.”
In addition, the senator recalled that in January he urged the DOH and other government agencies to already ban tourists from China and prepare an emergency response plan to ensure that the government is fully equipped to address a possible outbreak of a mysterious disease. respiratory. from China.
“It is so difficult to understand why up until now the Department of Health played down things, especially when it comes to China. We are in this situation because the DOH ignored the recommendation to ban Chinese citizens in January. Other countries are already in the planning stage of a system to distribute a vaccine once found, and yet we are still stuck in lockdowns and contact tracing, ”Binay lamented.
