Health authorities in the city and province advised the public Monday to refrain from forwarding, sharing or re-posting unverified information pertaining to the 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019 nCoV) so as not to cause panic and confusion.
Dr. Audrie Cipriano, Ospital ng Palawan’s (ONP) chief of the medical professional staff, said in an interview with the media Monday that the public must be thoroughly responsible for what information they entertain and share, most especially in social media.
“Ang panawagan ko sana let us not make any false news or ‘yong unverified [information]. Kung magpo-post kayo sa social media, i-check po muna natin, just to get away with [or] maiwasan natin ‘yong panic o ‘yong scare,” said Cipriano.
Health authorities, along with other concerned agencies, were invited at the City Council Monday for the question hour about the threat of 2019 nCoV in the locality.
Councilor Victor Oliveros, the majority floor leader, said it came to his knowledge that there are circulating text messages saying persons under investigation (PUI) at the ONP were already tested and resulted positive for 2019 nCoV.
“Mayroon pong mga nag-text o nag-message na meron nga daw pong mga test na ginawa doon at nag-positive nga raw po. So ngayon ay narinig po natin mismo sa ating mga doktor na hindi naman po, na under investigation [pa],” said Oliveros.
Cipriano confirmed they do not have an additional PUO at the ONP at the moment and said the public has nothing to worry about because the PUO at the ONP is well-contained inside the isolation room.
He said a specimen taken from a 10-year-old female foreigner was sent Sunday, January 26, to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
Cipriano noted the result may be released after 48-hours from the time RITM received the specimen.
While ONP contained in isolation two families earlier, Cipriano reiterated only the 10-year-old girl has the symptoms that satisfied the criteria for the confirmatory stage.
On the other hand, Dr. Ricardo Panganiban, City Health Office (CHO) chief during the question hour Monday said the public must not succumb to panic, yet should not also spread any false information that may frighten the others.
Panganiban also assured the public health authorities will not withhold from them any information.
“Huwag po sana tayong magmi-misinform. Hindi po nagsisinungaling ang mga health authorities. Kung ano po ang ibinato namin sa inyo, ‘yon na po ‘yong totoo. Hindi naman po namin itatago kung meron. Kung itatago po namin, kami rin po ay makakasuhan kasi nagmi-misinform kami,” he said.
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