THE Department of Health reported 22,310 recoveries yesterday but this was overshadowed by 102 more deaths, the fifth straight day that over 90 persons lost their battle against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.
Majority of the new deaths were recorded in the National Capital Region with 52. Other deaths were reported in Calabarzon (14), Western Visayas (10), Central Luzon (9), Central Visayas (8), Unknown (2), Cagayan Valley (2), Bicol Region (2), Davao Region (2), and Caraga (1).
Overall, the number of fatalities rose to 3,520, counting the 99 deaths reported last Wednesday, 97 on Thursday, 91 on Friday and 94 on Saturday.
In its latest bulletin, the DOH also reported 4,284 new cases, raising the total in the country to 217,396.
Of the new cases reported, majority came from NCR with 2,207, followed by Laguna (327), Cavite (191), Batangas (161), and Rizal (147).
The number of survivors has risen to 157,403.
The DOH had previously attributed the high number of recoveries to “Oplan Recovery,” a program that monitors the status of confirmed COVID-19 cases with mild symptoms and are asymptomatic.
“Oplan Recovery” uses the time-based recovery system, wherein those who have completed the 14-day isolation period and were cleared by a doctor are tagged as having recovered despite not undergoing repeat RT-PCR testing.
Globally, as of August 29, there were 24,587,513 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 833,556 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
At the House, Cavite Rep. Luis Ferrer IV announced that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is now admitted at a health facility in the province.
He is the fifth House member to have contracted the virus, next to Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza who made public his condition last week.
Two call agents of the Emergency Hotline 911 (E911) have contracted COVID-19, prompting the Department of Interior and Local Government to reroute all 911 calls to local call centers.
DILG undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said all emergency telecommunicators were advised to go on home quarantine as a precaution and to give way to the disinfection of the office.
Malaya said the undetermined number telecommunicators who are now on home quarantine include 10 DOH COVID-19 hotline agents assigned to the E911.
No new fatality among overseas Filipinos due to the COVID-19 virus was reported yesterday while only two new cases were confirmed, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
As of Saturday, the number of overseas Filipinos who have succumbed to the virus stood at 755, with 474 of them occurring in the Middle East/African regions.
With the two new confirmed cases, the DFA said the number of overseas Filipinos infected with the virus since its outbreak now stands 10,069, with the majority of the cases — 6, 968 —also in the Middle East/African regions.
The DFA also reported one new recovery, bringing the recoveries to 6,124.
More than 153, 000 overseas Filipinos have been repatriated to the country since February due to COVID-19, the DFA said.
Of the 153,124 who have been repatriated, the DFA said 95,529 or 62.4 percent are land-based workers while 57,595 or 37.6 percent are sea-based workers. Last week, 8,329 more arrived home from various countries.
The DFA said the latest arrivals returned home on 39 special commercial repatriation flights from the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Americas. — With Ashzel Hachero, Victor Reyes and Wendell Vigilia
