Coronavirus caseload exceeds 129,000 with 3,109 new cases
MANILA, Philippines — On the 145th day since the initial implementation of enhanced community quarantine in March and the first full week since the second modified ECQ, health officials added 3,109 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing its total to 129,913 patients.
Accompanying the new cases are 654 new recoveries and 61 additional deaths, bringing their totals to 67,673 and 2,270 respectively.
Sans the deaths and recoveries, the number of active cases in the country now stands at 59,970.
The first week of modified ECQ saw an additional 26,728 cases added to the national caseload since last Sunday, August 2.
Thousands of cases are being added to the national caseload each day, which the government attributes to increased testing.
Last week, health authorities recorded four days straight of new records in the agency’s single-day jumps in coronavirus cases. The biggest single-day increase in the country so far stands at 6,352, which was recorded on Tuesday. Last week, new cases were at 3,954 on Thursday, at 4,063 on Friday, and 4,963 on Saturday.
Over the week, the Philippines also surpassed neighbors Indonesia and China, where the virus originated from, in total patients recorded since the new pathogen emerged in December.
Medical workers have called for the reimposition of Enhanced Community Quarantine as a “time-out” for what they say is an overwhelmed healthcare system. Citing budget constraints, President Rodrigo Duterte instead declared a Modified ECQ, a step below a total lockdown.
The Palace, though, has urged Filipino not to have a "wrong view" of the coronavirus situation in the Philippines, saying cases are rising in other countries too.
READ: For Palace, it's 'wrong' to say Philippines has more COVID-19 cases than Indonesia | 'Cases up abroad too': Roque plays down high daily COVID-19 case increases
In his public addresses, Duterte has been touting a prospective vaccine from China, which he considers to be the only path to a new normal post-coronavirus.
The World Health Organization, though, highlights that governments across the globe should still maintain their focus on testing and contact tracing. The police have been tapped to help trace people who may have come into contact with COVID-19 cases.
Worldwide, the coronavirus disease 2019 has sickened some 19 million people and has seen the deaths of almost 730,000 others. — with a report from Ratziel San Juan
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