COVID-19 cases in the Philippines top 406,000
MANILA, Philippines — The country's coronavirus caseload rose to 406,337 on Saturday after the health department recorded 1,650 new infections.
Of the total cases, 35,478 — 8.7% — are marked by the Department of Health as active.
Another 194 recoveries pushed the total number of those who beat the virus to 363,068.
But the death toll rose to 7,791 after another 39 fatalities were recorded by the DOH.
Calamities are overlapping as the Philippines grapples with the wreckage caused by three typhoons in as many weeks amid a lingering and deadly pandemic.
The latest of the three, Typhoon Ulysses, lashed Luzon this week, dumping heavy rains on Metro Manila and other parts of the island, causing severe flooding which submerged tens of thousands of houses.
Evacuation centers as possible 'hotbeds' for COVID-19
Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos have been forced to move to evacuation centers where physical distancing and minimum health standards are harder to implement. Advocacy group Agap Banta last month warned that these shelters might turn into "hotbeds" for coronavirus while Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Friday urged government agencies to distribute face masks and alcohol to evacuees to prevent centers from turning into "superspreaders" for the disease.
Secretary Eduardo Año during a virtual briefing on Friday said the Department of the Interior and Local Government logged a total of 345, 119 individuals — or 102,806 families — who are currently in evacuation centers, adding that this may not paint the full picture of those displaced by Ulysses as others may have chosen to take shelter elsewhere.
Secretary Francisco Duque III during the same briefing said the health department has distributed hygiene kits, collapsible water containers, assorted medicines and face masks to the Metro Manila Center for Health Development and the Center for Health Development Calabarzon amounting to P26.8 million.
Filipinos continue to bear with the after effects of these three typhoons amid the further complications posted by the pandemic, the community quarantine for which has been in place for 244 days now.
Across the globe, 53.28 million have been struck by coronavirus and 1.30 million have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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