Third-party review of DOH's 'mass recovery' data needed, says Recto

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said the over 37,000 asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases retagged as recoveries by the Department of Health (DOH) in just a day should be carefully validated by a third-party.

"I will not rush to conclude that these are doctored data. What I would ask of them is a better explanation of the methodology used. And a breakdown, per town, so it will give us a high-resolution picture," Recto said in a statement.

"Let academics vet and validate it for our enlightenment, to confirm if the science is solid. We urgently need this third-party review," he added.

On Thursday, 38,075 new recoveries in the country were reported by the DOH — 37,166 were mild or asymptomatic cases recorded in June and July who have been re-tagged as recovered, while 909 were newly reported by regional and epidemiological surveillance units for July 30.

Recto underscored that in the fight against COVID-19, truth is as crucial as testing, tracing, and treatment.

"Reality cannot be altered by changing the formula just to arrive at a certain conclusion," he said.

He added that a government that can’t handle the truth can cause mass casualties.

According to the DOH's Department Memorandum 2020-0258, asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19 should be tagged as recovered 14 days from onset of symptom or from date of specimen collection.

Senators Risa Hontiveros and Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan have earlier questioned the DOH's "mass recovery" adjustment, warning this could give a false sense of security and cause further transmission of the virus.

Senator Sonny Angara, meanwhile, said the COVID-19 data in the following days must first be monitored before jumping to any conclusion.

"Let’s observe the trend over the next few days before a rush to judgement based on one day results," he said in a message.

Though acknowledging that time-based evaluation of recovery is a global practice, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said undergoing a repeat test would be more assuring.

"From the policy standpoint it’s better to test at the end so that we will completely know that the recoveries are indeed negative from COVID," he said in an interview on ANC.

The DOH maintained its explanation that COVID-19 tests are conducted to detect infection, not recovery.

"Current recovery policies now show that at the 10th day of illness, the risk of transmitting the virus to other people is significantly reduced. This clinical recovery protocol is followed by the US CDC, European CDC, and India," it said in a statement.

As of July 30, the Philippines has 89,374 cases of COVID-19 of which, 22,327 remain active; 65,064 are considered as recovered; and 1,983 have died.—AOL, GMA News