DOH admits to errors raised by UP group, says it’s ”nominal percentage”

May 13, 2020

The Department of Health (DOH) admitted having data error issues raised by a group from the University of the Philippines (UP) but said it is a "nominal percentage" of the entire data involving coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients.

In a statement read at a press briefing in Malacañang, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said they were able to take note of the errors pointed out by the UP Resilience Institute last Tuesday.

"We acknowledge that the system is not perfect. But we continue to improve our data collection and reporting systems," said Duque.

"The DOH has already taken note of the data errors found in the April 24 and 25 data drops," he added.

According to the UP study, errors include 45 cases having changed genders and at least 75 patients became older or younger, all in just a day.

At least 516 patients were reclassified to a different city or location.

Duque said the data errors mentioned are "less than one percent" of the entire database.

"We assure the public that the issues raised are a nominal percentage of the whole data set, and does not prejudice the overall interpretation of data and decision making," said Duque.

Duque added the issues pointed by UP have been resolved as early as April 26.

"Data is continuously rectified the moment we identify any issue, including, but not limited to, date formatting inconsistencies, case classification, and proper identification of residence," said Duque.

"The DOH remains committed to transparency, and we welcome feedback from the experts' community," said Duque. DMS