MANILA, Philippines (Updated 4:16 p.m.) — The health department recorded 2,076 more coronavirus infections and another mass recovery of 10,579 new survivors on Sunday, bringing their totals to 429,864 and 398,624, respectively.
In its latest case bulletin, the Department of Health also tacked on 40 more casualties. The coronavirus death toll in the Philippines now stands at 8,373 as a result.
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Accounting for both deaths and recoveries, there are still 22,867 active cases of the pathogen in the Philippines or patients who are still confined in hospitals and quarantine centers who have neither recovered nor passed away.
Of the 1,473 tests that turned out positive, 90.4% were mild or asymptomatic cases, while 6.1% were critical and 3.2% were severe.
Per the health department's latest bulletin, the following areas posted the most number of confirmed coronavirus patients over the past week:
- Quezon City (137 new cases)
- Laguna (122 new cases)
- Cavite (103 new cases)
- Batangas (96 new cases)
- Angeles City (79 new cases)
According to figures from business data platform Statista, the Philippines has only performed 50,713 tests per million population as of November 26, placing it firmly among the bottom five countries most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Based on the 23,968 people tested in the latest DOH update, the positivity rate was recorded at 6.1%.
Meanwhile, the Philippines' recovery rate now stands at 92.7%.
The day before, the DOH also recorded 1,893 more infections.
Over the past week, the national caseload rose by 11,046 documented cases.
The Philippines in quarantine
The Philippines has been under community quarantine for 257 days—the world's longest lockdown caused by the coronavirus—and has the second-highest number of cases in Southeast Asia, trailing only Indonesia.
Despite this, thousands of cases are still being reported daily, while administration officials continue to assert that the government has managed well on one hand but also break the very quarantine rules they set on the other.
Globally, some 62 million infections have been recorded since the virus first emerged in December, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization.
President Rodrigo Duterte continues to routinely assert that acquiring a vaccine is the only way out for the country moving forward.
The government's goal is to vaccinate 60 to 70 million Filipinos against coronavirus in three to five years to achieve herd immunity. Some 35 million people were already identified as priority for inoculation.
— Franco Luna with a report from Bella Perez-Rubio