By Joseph Almer Pedrajas

The Department of Health (DOH) is “not certain” if there are undetected coronavirus diseases (COVID-2019) cases in the Philippines, but assured the public that it is doing its best to strengthen its surveillance, a Health official said Monday.

“We are not really certain if there would be undetected coronavirus cases in the Philippines,” DOH Assistance Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in the Laging Handa press briefing. “Kaya nga po pina-iigting natin ‘yung monitor natin para magkaroon tayo ng at least that comfort na sinasabi natin.”

(That’s why we are doing our best with the monitoring so we can have the comfort [of knowing].)

Vergeire said the Health department is trying “as much as possible to identify cases” and isolate those persons under monitoring and patients under investigation to address such concerns.

“Nakikita natin ngayong sitwasyon sa Pilipinas (We can see the current situation in the Philippines), everything has been covered,” she added, allaying fears of possible undetected cases.

“We are guarding our ports, [and] our local governments are doing their efforts also in identifying and trying to monitor all of these persons that should be monitored.”

At the same briefing, Vergeire admitted that the department is “still challenged” by the availability of face masks in the country, saying their existing supplies are “adequate [only] for the medical workers.”

She said this as overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in South Korea are reportedly in need of face masks amid that country’s burgeoning number of cases.

“I don’t know if we can accommodate this kind of request [to send face masks to South Korea],” Vergeire said.

But she gave the assurance that the Health department is “now in direct coordination with one of our local [face mask] suppliers in Bataan wherein the supplier already has committed also that he can do the production.”