Philippines COVID-19 cases surpass 80,000

MANILA, Philippines — The number of confirmed coronavirus disease cases yesterday exceeded 80,000, with over 2,000 additional infections reported for the fourth consecutive day.

As of yesterday, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded a total of 80,448 cases nationwide, with 2,110 new ones collated from 66 of 90 operational laboratories.

More than half or 1,345 reported COVID-19 cases came from Metro Manila, although almost 90 percent were mild.

The DOH reported 382 recoveries, bringing to 26,110 the total number of patients who recovered from the virus.

COVID-related deaths rose to 1,932, including 39 additonal deaths, 35 of which occurred in July, two in June and another two in April.

Seventeen of the deaths came from Metro Manila, with the rest from Central Visayas, Calabarzon, Zamboanga peninsula, Davao, Ilocos and Caraga.

The DOH said 74 duplicate cases were removed from the total count.

More than 1.2 million COVID tests have been conducted since the start of the pandemic, it said.

Network system

Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said he is now working overtime to establish a network of both public and private hospitals in Metro Manila to address the continued spike in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Vega said there is an immediate need to have a coordination of hospitals in Metro Manila to prevent a possible collapse of the hospital system.

He added that he met with officials of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and local government units for the much-needed coordination and network system.

COVID wards in Metro Manila are reportedly either already in full capacity or “in danger zone.”

St. Luke’s Medical Center, Makati Medical Center, Asian Hospital, National Kidney and Transplant Institute and other hospitals have declared full capacity of their ICU beds.

Despite being under a general community quarantine, Metro Manila has reported staggering numbers of 1,000 plus cases in nine of the last 10 days since July 16.

Cases at PCOO

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases at the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and its attached agencies yesterday rose to 25, including two employees of the unit that will document President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Most of the active cases, 19 of them, are working for the PCOO while the rest are connected with attached agencies. Two of the infected persons work for Radio Television Malacañang or RTVM, which provides broadcast coverage of the activities of the President and other executive branch officials.

Two other persons who tested positive for the virus work for the Philippine Information Agency while the People’s Television and APO Production Unit have one active case each.

The PCOO and its attached agencies have so far logged 27 COVID-19 cases, including two employees who have died of the disease.

PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said the infected persons caught the virus while performing their duties as some of them were involved in the production of communication materials, television and radio programs that support the government’s daily briefings.

“Upon the confirmation of COVID-19 case last July 21, our office immediately conducted testing and contact tracing of primary and secondary contacts of the patient among our staff to minimize the transmission of the virus,” Anadanar said.

He said the RTVM office has been placed under a lockdown but assured the public that it will not affect its coverage of the SONA.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said no staff member from his office tested positive for the virus. – Edith Regalado, Alexis Romero