FACT CHECK: East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City is not under lockdown

CLAIM: The East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City is placed under lockdown because of a patient with COVID-19.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: Several Facebook accounts claim that the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City has been placed under lockdown following the admission of a COVID-19-positive patient from Monumento in Caloocan City.

The post also urges the public to share the said message with their Facebook friends.

This chain message has been circulating on Facebook since February 2020, just days after the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the Philippines.

The facts: The health department said in an advisory released on Thursday, October 5, 2023,l that none of its hospitals were currently under lockdown. They all remained fully operational.

The DOH urged the public to be careful when sharing information, and to rely solely on official DOH channels for health news and updates.

Based on the October 2 National COVID-19 case bulletin, the non-intensive care unit bed utilization was at 16.3%, while the ICU bed utilization was at 13%. Meanwhile, 189 patients were under “severe and critical” condition.

From September 18 to 24, the DOH logged 1,231 new COVID-19 cases, with an average of 176 new cases per day this week.

As of March 19, more than 78 million individuals, or 100.44% of the target population, have been vaccinated against COVID-19, while 23 million individuals have received their booster shots.

The DOH has yet to update its vaccination data because of the ongoing migration of the Vaccine Information Management System by the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

Last July 21, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lifted the state of public health emergency in relation to COVID-19 in the country.

Prior to Marcos’ order, the World Health Organization declared an end to the global health emergency on May 5, 2023.

The Philippines was first placed under a state of public health emergency on March 9, 2020, by then-president Rodrigo Duterte to control the rising number of COVID-19 cases. Later that year, in December, Duterte issued Executive Order 121, which allowed emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines. – James Patrick Cruz/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.