COVID-19 cases in Philippines surpass 20,000 with nearly 1,000 deaths
MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 5:30 p.m.) — The tally of confirmed coronavirus disease cases in the Philippines passed 20,000 Thursday, more than four months after health authorities first detected an infection in the country.
The grim milestone came after Metro Manila—the epicenter of the nation’s outbreak—began emerging from one of the world’s longest coronavirus lockdowns.
The Department of Health reported Thursday 634 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the country’s case tally to 20,382.
Of the additional cases, 313 were classified “fresh,” while 321 were “late” cases from the agency’s testing backlog. Nearly half of the fresh cases were recorded in the capital region, while 32% were from Central Visayas.
Under the new reporting system, fresh cases are those whose test results were validated by the DOH in the last three days, while late cases are those whose results were released to patients four days ago or more but were just recently confirmed.
Ninety-five more patients have survived the disease, bringing the number of COVID-19 survivors to 4,248. Total recoveries accounted for around 20% of the country’s confirmed cases.
But the DOH logged 10 new deaths related to the severe respiratory illness, raising the fatality count to 984. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the fatality rate of COVID-19 has gone down in the country.
“This is a small victory for us,” Vergeire said in Filipino.
Currently, there are 40 certified polymerase chain reaction laboratories and 12 GeneXpert laboratories. Some 345,577 individuals have been tested for coronavirus in the country as of June 2.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 385,000 people out of the more than 6.4 million infected worldwide.
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