Filipinos abroad with COVID-19 reach over 11,500 

MANILA, Philippines — The number of Filipinos abroad infected with the coronavirus on Tuesday stood at 11,501, with officials reporting 27 new cases from three regions. 

A daily bulletin by the foreign affairs department showed that the additional Filipino virus patients were from the Americas, Asia and Europe. 

The death count, meanwhile, has stayed at 828 with no new fatalities reported for November 10. 

Along with it came 45 more recoveries to bring the number of patients who have been discharged to 7,456. 

Some 3,217 are still in hospitals receiving treatment, the DFA added. 

Wednesday's additional cases have brought Europe's tally of infections among Filipino to now at 1,303, the third highest, as well as 97 deaths and 982 recoveries. 

Middle East in its 32 countries has a total of 7,518 Filipino patients, and it also has the most number of deaths at 543, as well as for recoveries at 4,658. 

Asia has 1,851 cases, nine deaths and 1,306 recoveries, while Americas have 829 infections, 179 deaths and 520 recoveries. 

Filipinos abroad contracting the coronavirus were first reported as early as February, a month before the outbreak at home began, particularly from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. 

The DFA has reported that by first week of November, there have been 8,591 Filipinos who were brought home, with the first ever repatriation efforts beginning in the ground zero of the COVID-19 at Wuhan City in China. 

Globally, there are now nearly 51 million individuals infected with the deadly virus along with 1.26 million deaths so far. The United States had recently reported cases soaring beyond 10 million and over 238,000 deaths, the highest in the world. 

India, Brazil, France and Russia are in the Top 5 highest, while the Philippines which is nearing 400,000 cases is at the 25th spot. It remains the second-highest in Southeast Asia in terms of infections, next only to Indonesia, with over 440,000 confirmed cases. — Christian Deiparine