COVID-19 infections in Philippines approach 19,000 with addition of 359 cases
MANILA, Philippines (Updated, 5:34 p.m.) — The total number of confirmed coronavirus disease cases in the country approached the 19,000-level Tuesday as the Department of Health announced 359 additional infections.
To date, the highly-contagious respiratory illness has infected 18,997 individuals in the Philippines.
Of the newly-reported cases, 176 were considered “fresh,” while 183 were “late” cases from the department’s testing backlog. Half of the fresh cases were recorded in Central Visayas, while 18% were from Metro Manila and the remaining 30% were found elsewhere.
Under the new reporting system, fresh cases are those whose test results were validated by the DOH in the last three days, while late cases are those whose results were released to patients four days ago or more but were just recently confirmed.
The DOH also reported 84 more recoveries, pushing the number of COVID-19 survivors to 4,063. Total recoveries accounted for around 21% of the nation’s confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, six more patients succumbed to the disease. This brought the death count to 966.
In recent days, the Philippines has seen a massive increase in the number of COVID-19 infections. But it “does not mean that the COVID-19 situation in the country is worsening,” the agency said.
It maintained that the surge in the number of new cases is due to the hiring of more personnel and the shift to a fully-automated platform that sped up the validation process.
Some 328,835 have been tested for coronavirus in the country as of May 31. The country has a rated testing capacity of 34,000 per day but the actual testing capacity ranges between 8,000 and 9,000 daily, the DOH said.
Metro Manila—the epicenter of the country’s outbreak—began emerging from one of the world’s longest coronavirus lockdowns Monday after most businesses were allowed to reopen for the first time since mid-March.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 375,000 people out of the more than 6.2 million infected worldwide.
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