CABINET secretary Karlo Nograles dispelled on Sunday, April 12, rumors on another extension of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
"Hindi totoo yan. Fake news naman yan. Kung may nagpapakalat man nito, hindi namin pinag-uusapan ‘yung extension ng lockdown after April 30," Nograles said.
(That is not true. That's fake news. We don't discuss about lockdown extension after April 30.)
On March 16, the government implemented the community quarantine in the National Capital Region, a measure to contain the arising cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the country.
A day after, President Rodrigo Duterte included the entire Luzon in the lockdown which limits the movement of the people through the suspension of mass transportation, the establishment of control points manned by the PNP as well as imposition of curfew is essentially 24 hours.
The lockdown has been extended until April 30.
Nograles earlier said the extension was necessary in order for the government to assess and determine the impact of the enhance community lockdown in terms of containing the disease.
Meanwhile, Nograles also reiterated that there was no order issued to the hospitals by any government agency particularly the Department of Health (DOH) to conceal any information about the Covid-19 especially the fatalities in their facilities.
"Hindi ito totoo. Naglabas na ng pahayag ang Department of Health (DOH) na wala silang ganitong utos sa ating mga ospital. Walang ganitong polisiya ang inyong pamahalaan," he said.
(This is not true. The Department of Health already released a statement that they never have this kind of command to the hospitals. The government has no such policy like this.)
Earlier, DOH secretary Francisco Duque has already denied the matter which stemmed from a Facebook post of GMA News' Arnold Clavio who claimed that a hospital in Metro Manila received such orders as number of cadavers died over Covid-19 piled up in their facilities and there is already a need for more body bags.
Duque’s statement was supported by the East Avenue Medical Center that it did not receive any order regarding the reporting of Covid-19 deaths from the said agency nor the local government.
Nograles, however, warned the public from the fake news surfacing amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Our efforts to contain the Covid-19 outbreak must be complemented by our efforts to contain misinformation and disinformation lalo na pagdating sa mga balita involving our health, about possible remedies for the diseases and similar unsubstantiated claims,” he said.
“Various government functionaries regularly appear on media to give updates on the different actions being taken in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. Tuluy-tuloy ang pagbabalita ukol sa Covid-19 response dahil alam namin na mahalaga ito sa inyo. This outbreak concerns all of us, so we recognize that it is our responsibility to give you facts, all the facts and nothing but the facts. You deserve nothing less,” he added.