MANILA, Philippines — The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Philippines reached 359,169 Monday after the Department of Health reported 2,638 new infections.
Most of the additional cases were from Quezon City with 141 patients. Cavite followed with 140 new cases, then Laguna with 128, Batangas with 120 and Rizal with 108.
Of the newly-reported infections, 73% or 1,932 occurred in the last two weeks.
Twenty-six more patients died from the severe respiratory illness, bringing the country’s COVID-19 death toll to 6,675. Most of the additional fatalities occurred in October (15).
DOH also recorded the recovery of 226 more people. The department announced Sunday 14,941 additional recoveries as part of its weekly Oplan Recovery Program. Under this scheme, mild and asymptomatic cases are tagged as recoveries following the World Health Organization’s discharging criteria.
To date, 310,303 people in the country have recovered from COVID-19.
Excluding deaths and recoveries, the total number of active cases stands at 42,191. Of these, 83.1% exhibit mild symptoms, while 11.3% are asymptomatic, 2.1% are severe and 3.6% are critical.
Last week, the government allowed travel “for any purpose” between general community quarantine and modified MGCQ areas subject to “reasonable” regulations by local government units. It also allowed individuals who are 15 to 65 years old to leave their homes.
Filipinos are also now permitted to leave the country after the government lifted its ban on non-essential outbound travel.
Globally, COVID-19 has infected 39.88 million people, with over 1.11 million deaths.