The Philippine Department of Health says it did not issue this advisory
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on March 19, 2020 at 06:30
- 2 min read
- By AFP Philippines
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The image, carrying the logo and letterhead of the Philippine Department of Health, was published here on Facebook on March 16, 2020.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
The text in the purported advisory reads: "If you have any of the following solely or in combination:
- Fever
- Cough or Colds
- Headache
- Joint pain
- Muscle pain
- Stomach ache/diarrhea
- History of travel outside the Philippines in the last 14 days or in areas where CoVid19 has been reported or clustered
- Exposure to person with CoVid19
- Exposure to person under evaluation for CoVid19
WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE YOU AT THIS CLINIC AND INSTEAD PLEASE PROCEED TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM FOR PROPER EVALUATION / THIS IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH DOH AND OTHER GOVERNMENT REGULATORY HEALTH DIRECTIVES".
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 8,800 people worldwide and infected almost 210,000 others, as reported here by AFP on March 19.
The image was also shared alongside a similar claim here, here and here on Facebook.
The claim is false; the Philippine Department of Health published this post on its Facebook page on March 16, 2020, denying it had issued the advisory.
The post states: “The circulating health advisory is not an official DOH issuance.”
Below is a screenshot of the statement, which includes the purported advisory in the misleading posts marked with a red “X”:
The post's Tagalog-language caption translates to English as: “Fact Check: The shown Health Advisory is not from the Department of Health. The DOH invites the public to only get their information about COVID-19 from official accounts of the Department”.
The Philippine Department of Health says 17 people have died and 202 others have been infected with COVID-19 as of 4pm on March 18, 2020.
In a response, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered almost half of the country's population to stay home for the next month in an effort to curb the rising number of COVID-19 cases, according to this AFP report.
This March 17, 2020 DOH advisory states people who have interacted within one metre of COVID-19 patients should follow the instructions from Philippine health authorities so they can be referred to designated hospitals. Those who have had contact with a patient beyond a metre have been advised to self-monitor and seek medical help if symptoms appear.
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