COVID-19 case count in Philippines hits 32,295
MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 5:49 p.m.) — The Department of Health said 470 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases were reported across the country, taking the national caseload to 32,295 Wednesday.
Broken down, 357 of the additional cases were classified fresh, while 113 were from the department’s validation backlog.
Metro Manila accounted for 159 of the fresh cases, followed by Central Visayas with 141. The remaining 57 fresh cases were from elsewhere.
The day before, 1,150 new infections were logged—the highest single-day increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The increase in the number of COVID-19 cases came after the government further relaxed restrictions on movements nationwide—except for Cebu City, which is under enhanced community quarantine—to revitalize the country’s bruised economy.
“Atin pong iniexpect na tataas pa rin ang kaso habang unti-unting binubuksan ang ating ekonomiya, bahagyang niluluwagan ang community restrictions at patuloy na tumataas ang testing capacity,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
(We are expecting that the number of cases will increase as we gradually open the economy, ease community restrictions and ramp up our testing capacity.)
“Bagamat tumataas ang mga kaso sa ating bansa, ang pagtaas naman na ito ay gradual at hindi biglaan. Ibig sabihin nakakayanan ng ating current health system ang pagtaas ng mga kasong ito,” she added.
(While the number of cases in rising, the increase is gradual and not sudden. This means out current health system can handle the surge in cases.)
The DOH also reported that 214 more patients have recovered, raising the total number of coronavirus survivors to 8,656. Total recoveries accounted for 27% of the nation’s confirmed cases.
The fatality count, however, increased to 1,204 with the deaths of 18 more patients.
As of Tuesday, the country’s case fatality rate stood at 3.73%, which is below the global average of 5.22%. Philippines’ CFR, however, is higher than the average in Southeast Asia.
Currently, there are 65 licensed laboratories nationwide. Only 567,755 individuals have been so far tested for coronavirus in the country.
At least 9.18 million people have now been infected with COVID-19 wordwide since it emerged in China late in 2019, and more than 474,000 people have died.
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