Image: Instagram/@mr_enchongdee
Actor Enchong Dee took a jab at government officials who got “VIP” treatment to get tested for COVID-19 as the public clamors for mass testing amid the pandemic.
Dee took to Twitter earlier today, March 24 to give his own take on the definition of VIP, following the death of Dr. Israel Bactol, a 34-year-old adult cardiology fellow who passed away battling the novel coronavirus.
“VIP: Very Inconsiderate People,” Dee said, posting a snippet of an Inquirer report on the doctor’s death and a list of the names of the alleged VIP politicians.
VIP : Very Inconsiderate People pic.twitter.com/XnLQhLDMeM
— Enchong Dee (@enchongdee777) March 24, 2020
“At least 34 government officials, mostly without symptoms or aggravating conditions, have demanded that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) of the Department of Health (DOH) prioritize their diagnostic tests for COVID-19, including that of their asymptomatic family members, while persons under investigation (PUIs) displaying real symptoms waited to be tested for the disease,” the report stated.
The COVID-19 test results of Bactol, who died on March 21, were delayed for four days because at least 34 government officials “ordered” theirs to be released within a day, according to two RITM staffers.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III meanwhile admitted that while the VIPs did make direct requests to the RITM, he noted that “some of them had really fit in the criteria for testing.”
He added that these officials met the prior guidelines of DOH on who should get tested, which include: individuals with exposure to COVID-19-positive patients and those who had recent travel to countries with local transmission.
“For those ‘VIPs,’ so to speak, who had requested that they be tested, they actually fit in the initial set of criteria that would allow them for testing,” the health secretary said earlier today. JB
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