Philippine COVID-19 recoveries surpass death toll
MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 5:09 p.m.) — The number of patients who have recovered from the coronavirus disease in the Philippines reached 353 Wednesday, surpassing the number of COVID-19 fatalities reported in the country.
Fifty-eight more people were cleared of the virus, the Department of Health said in a bulletin.
For the first time since the local transmission of COVID-19 was declared, the total number of recoveries exceeded the death toll which stood at 349. Only 14 new fatalities were reported.
There are now 5,453 people in the country who have contracted the highly-contagious illness, following the announcement of 230 additional cases.
The number of individuals who have recuperated from the disease has been steadily increasing in the recent days. This can be attributed to the inclusion in the DOH tally of patients with mild or no symptoms who got better while on home quarantine.
The DOH earlier said that it takes an average of two weeks for patients with mild symptoms to recover. Recovery of severe to critical cases may take up to six weeks.
The Philippines has the most COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia as of Tuesday, according to the coronavirus tally of John Hopkins University in the United States. The country was followed by Malaysia with 4,987 cases and Indonesia with 4,839 infections.
A total of 39,947 individuals have been tested in the Philippines, the DOH said.
The national government is weighing whether to lift or extend the enhanced community quarantine of Luzon. Experts from the University of the Philippines found that while the Luzon-wide lockdown—along with other interventions—appeared successful in containing the virus, it may not be sustainable over the long run.
The coronavirus pandemic has infected nearly two million people and killed over 126,000 across the globe.
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