DOH adds 9,062 recoveries as total coronavirus cases eclipse 439,000
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 4:46 p.m.) — Health authorities in the Philippines added 9,062 more cured coronavirus patients in its latest "mass recovery" Sunday, but also recorded 1,768 additional infections.
This brings their totals to 408,634 recoveries and 439,834 total cases since the coronavirus disease 2019 was first discovered last December.
However, in its latest case bulletin issued Sunday afternoon, the Department of Health also reported that 29 more Filipinos succumbed to the highly-contagious disease, whose death toll now stands at 8.554.
Accounting for total deaths and recoveries, there are still 22,646 remaining active COVID-19 cases in hospitals and quarantine centers around the country.
Just the day before, the DOH also documented 1,733 more cases of the virus.
Per the health department's latest bulletin, the following areas posted the most number of confirmed coronavirus patients over the past week:
- Quezon City (112 new cases)
- Laguna (94 new cases)
- Rizal (90 new cases)
- Davao City (71 new cases)
- Benguet (69 new cases)
Of the 23,871 people newly-tested in the latest DOH update, exactly 1,100 tested positive, good for a 4.6% positivity rate.
Among these positive tests, 90.4% were mild or asymptomatic cases, while 6.1% were critical and 3.1% were severe.
Figures available on business data platform Statista suggest that the Philippines is still among the bottom five in coronavirus testing among the 31 countries most affected by the pandemic.
President Rodrigo Duterte continues to assert that acquiring a vaccine to achieve herd immunity is the only way out for the Philippines moving forward.
Other government officials also routinely emphasize the need to keep the already-devastated economy above water throughout the quarantine, despite a pronounced shortage in public transportation for employees heading to their workplaces.
The United Kingdom this week became the first Western country to approve a vaccine for general use, piling pressure on other countries to follow suit swiftly. Other nations are also moving ahead with plans to roll out the vaccines with the US expected to give a green light later this month.
Data from the World Health Organization shows that the pathogen has sickened over 65 million around the world, leading to more than 1.5 million lives lost.
Enhanced community quarantine was first hoisted in the Philippines in mid-March, or exactly 264 days ago—marking the world's longest coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Thousands of cases are still being reported per day.
— Franco Luna with a report from Bella Perez-Rubio
- Latest
- Trending
