STARTING next week, the releasing of the latest COVID-19 Case Bulletin or public tracker in the country will now be done once a week, or very Monday at 4 pm, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
This decision of the DOH was arrived at by the agency so it can focus on efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic such as healthcare capacity including vaccination rates in the country.
DOH Spokesperson and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also said that focus can also be done on the number of severe and critical cases of COVID-19 and how much is the occupancy in hospitals since this category needs more attention.
The DOH said that the information it will release will be simplified as much as possible for it to be better understood by the public.
Aside from this, Vergeire said the DOH will also lessen the number of regular media briefings it conducts, except when there will be important information and other advisories by the DOH.
Vergeire, however, clarified that there will still be information that the DOH will release in its website related to the COVID-19 situation in the country that may be open to the public.
Even if the changes to the reporting system of COVID-19 updates were stalled last month, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said that it is timely under Alert Level 1 to release case bulletins on a weekly basis.