7,999 stat reached solon '24 hours early', DOH cries 'leak'

The Department of Health's COVID-19 case bulletin came under scrutiny on Tuesday after a lawmaker said in a House inquiry that she received a text about the 7,999 new infections on March 20 a day in advance.

Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo asked health officials if data on new COVID-19 cases were being managed akin to how department stores marked down retail prices of their goods.

"Ini-engineer ba ‘yan? ‘Yung presyo sa Shoemart 'di ba, P79.95. Hindi mo paaabutin ng P80, pwedeng ganun," Quimbo said.

[Is this being engineered? The prices at Shoemart, for instance, P79.95. You won't let it reach P80.]

"Or, do you have some leeway in carrying over cases? Halimbawa, the total in two days is 10,000. Downpayment muna tayo, 7,999 ngayon, ipagpabukas na natin ‘yung iba," she added.

[For instance, the total in two days is 10,000. Let's just disclose initially 7,999 now and reveal the rest the following day.]

Quimbo said the DOH would have to take her word. "I really saw the text 24 hours before."

"My concern is that I actually knew that it was going to be 7,999, 24 hours before it got reported. Nakakita akong text someone from DOH saying that tomorrow na 7,999," Quimbo said.

[I saw a text from someone in the DOH saying that tomorrow's figure will be 7,999.]

"It's a very weird text. Nagulat ako na the following day, indeed the reported number of cases is 7,999,"  she added.

[I was shocked that the figure the following day was indeed 7,999.]

Quimbo said she was "crushed" because she and her family anticipated the figures with bated breaths.

"So para sa akin sagrado yung number na 'yun so nung narealize ko.. it's something that I should raise," Quimbo said.

[For me, the numbers are scared. I realized it was something that I should raise.]

DOH looking for leak source

Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire said the data must have been leaked by  someone from the department.

"We are trying to identify the source coming from our team, from our COVID surveillance," said Vergeire, adding that they released DOH data with "transparency."

Vergeire said they already warned their employees not to disseminate initial information on COVID-19 cases as these numbers would undergo further validation.

Quimbo said it could not have been a leak because the 7,999 figure was available not just in a matter of hours but more than a day before it was announced.

"In fact, I saw the text even before the report for the day before was released," Quimbo said.

"Hindi siya leak, yan ang sa akin nakakabahala," she added. 

[It was not a leak and that is what bothers me.]

Data extracted, validated

Vergeire said it took less than 24 hours to process the data that would be reported on any given day.

She said the data would be extracted at 1 p.m. and "cleaned" until 7 p.m. when the DOH would already have "topline" numbers.

The following day, the data is further processed to weed out duplication.

"Pagdating ng 1 p.m. sinishare na sa akin for final vetting," Vergeire said.

[At 1 p.m., he data is sent to me for final vetting.]

Quimbo then asked how the breach could have happened.

"Maari po na when we had sharing of our topline numbers lumabas na po kaagad," Vergeire said.

[It could leaked when we sharing our topline numbers.]

She said the DOH had already tightened the security of the data, limiting those who have access to data managers.

Vergeire added that only she, Health Chief Francisco Duque III and the Epidemiology Bureau have access to the final number of COVID-19 cases before this is shared to the public. —LDF/NB, GMA News