Covering CoViD-19 Archives | Page 3 of 7

Covering the CoViD-19 Pandemic

Media fail to challenge government spin as PH tops Southeast Asia in COVID cases

SINGAPORE-BASED Straits Times reported on August 5 that the Philippines was likely to be Asia’s COVID-19 hotspot as it recorded 6,532 new infections, the highest in a single day. Government officials quickly reacted in an attempt to control the narrative. On August 6, NTF’s Vince Dizon, president of Bases...

Media failed to probe record-breaking “mass recovery” numbers

DOH DREW flak for reporting an unexpected surge of COVID-19 recoveries amid the continued increase in the number of cases. On July 30, the health department reported a record-breaking 38,075 new recoveries, surpassing the previous total number recorded at 26,996. It reported a whopping total of 65,064. In a...

Distress call from the health sector: Media only scratch the surface

FINALLY, the medical community has spoken, pleading for relief for its front liners. In a video conference organized by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) last August 1, a group of doctors and nurses called on the government to place “Mega Manila”once again under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) for...

Media flag Duque’s “flattening the curve” claim

WITH SO much of COVID-19 policies dependent on the DOH’s claims, media should check out what the agency and its officials in charge are saying. As cases continue to rise in the NCR and Central Visayas, the health chief said, “We have successfully flattened the curve since April.” In...

Possible loss of lives in sea mishap calls for media follow up

FOURTEEN FILIPINOS are still missing after the collision involving the Filipino fishing vessel Liberty 5 and the Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship Vienna Wood. The incident happened off the coast of Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro in the late evening of June 27, as reported to the authorities shortly before 2 am...

Battle for Cebu: Local media question militarized COVID-19 response

THE ALARMING spike in cases, the high mortality rate, and the rise of severe and critical cases in the province of Cebu last June pushed the National Task Force on COVID-19 to focus their efforts on the new “epicenter” of the pandemic in the country. Reports citing data from...

Is the PH “winning” against COVID: Media debunks government’s spin on WHO report

DESPITE THE continued rise of cases across the country, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque claimed government is “winning” against COVID-19, and congratulated the Philippines for supposedly beating the University of the Philippines’ (UP) projection that the number of cases could shoot to 40,000 by the end of June. This came...

Commuting horrors on GCQ day: Only some reports noted government incompetence

TRANSPORT WOES marred the National Capital Region’s (NCR) transition to general community quarantine (GCQ). As some industries reopened on June 1, the lack of public transport forced returning workers to walk long distances and hitch rides from private vehicles. The government’s bus augmentation program did little to help as...

Despite Duterte Freedom of Information EO: Access to information narrows during pandemic

CHEERS to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) for looking into how access to government-held information has become more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Karol Ilagan’s “Quarantine Curbs Access to Information” found that both national and local government agencies have either delayed responding to or denied requests for...

Media catching on: Government still confused about “mass” testing

GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSONS have among their responsibilities that of projecting a good image of the administration and its officials, primarily the chief executive. But spokespersons who sacrifice clarity and truth to achieve this soon lose their credibility. Controversy has hounded the issue of widespread testing that the government began to...