Philippines adds 17,057 recoveries as COVID-19 caseload hits 339,341

MANILA, Philippines — Although adding another “mass recovery” of 17,057 patients, the total coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases hit 339,341 Sunday, the Department of Health said, after the latter recorded 2,502 more infections in the country. 

Recording an additional 83 deaths, health officials also saw the coronavirus death toll hit 6,321 in their latest case bulletin Sunday afternoon. 

Accounting for the deaths and recoveries, there are still 39,945 active cases of COVID-19 in the country as of Sunday afternoon. 

The weekly influx of coronavirus recoveries is part of the department’s Oplan Recovery program, which mild and asymptomatic cases as recoveries following the set criteria from the World Health Organization. 

Sunday’s additions bring the recovery rate in the Philippines to 86% with 293,075 recoveries. 

READ: COVID-19 infections in the Philippines breach 336,000, deaths now at 6,238

The day before, health authorities also added 2,249 cases of the coronavirus. 

Over the past week, coronavirus infections increased by 16,844. 

Cases grew by 21,409 the week before. 

On Saturday night, the DOH also announced that the third phase of the country’s coronavirus vaccine trials, during which patients will actually be treated with a vaccine to test its safety, were slated to commence in November. 

President Rodrigo Duterte has routinely emphasized in his public addresses that securing a vaccine is the only solution to the Philippines' coronavirus situation moving forward. 

READ: COVID-19 vaccine phase 3 trials to begin in November — DOH

The University of the Philippines-OCTA Research team this week said the number of new COVID-19 cases were declining nationwide but warned against the premature easing of community quarantine restrictions, especially in the country's capital region. 

Over half a year—eight months, or 208 days—since the imposition of enhanced community quarantine in the Philippines, the national government is still wrestling with curbing the spread of the coronavirus, while often trumpeting the narrative that the uphill battle is actually a winning one and asserting that thinking otherwise is a “wrong view.” 

This, despite the Philippines still being under the longest recorded quarantine in the world, and the daily additions in coronavirus cases are still being reported in the thousands—the only country in the Western Pacific region of the World Health Organization to be doing so. 

The Philippines also has the 19th highest number of coronavirus cases in the world and the highest number of confirmed patients in Southeast Asia.

Worldwide, over 11 million coronavirus cases have been recorded, leading to over 530,000 deaths, according to latest data from the World Health Organization. 

— with reports from Bella Perez-Rubio and Christian Deiparine