THE Department of Health on Wednesday reported 232 new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), 14 more deaths, and 58 new recoveries.
This brings the total confirmed cases to 5,453, the fatalities to 349, and recoveries to 353.
The disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 that originated in China has spread to 210 countries and territories around the world.
Globally, there are about 1.8 million affected individuals with at least 117,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
In the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines ranks 1st among countries with COVID-19 transmission, overtaking Malaysia which is now in second place, followed by Singapore.
Seven of every 10 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines are in the National Capital Region, based on the case tracker website of the DOH. This as 3,785 of the 5,453 cases (69%) came from Metro Manila.
Quezon City tops the list with 994 cases followed by the Manila with 484, Parañaque City with 328, Makati City with 319, Mandaluyong City with 285. and Pasig City with 239.
Also having triple digit cases are Taguig City with 193; San Juan City, 188; Pasay City, 131; Caloocan City, 125; Las Pinas City, 125; Muntinlupa City, 109; and Marikina City, 107.
Occupying the lower tier in the list re Valenzuela City with 52, Malabon City with 26, Pateros with 19, and Navotas City with 19.
It was in Metro Manila where government first implemented a general community quarantine, before expanding it to an enhanced community quarantine in the whole of Luzon.
The move aims to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 in the Philippines.
COVID-19 LABORATORIES
The DOH said it has accredited 16 laboratory facilities for COVID-19 testing.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said this means the country is getting a step closer to achieving the testing capacity goal.
“We expect that as we accredit more laboratories, we will get closer to achieving our goal of 8,000 tests per day by the end of the month,” Vergeire said.
The accredited COVID-19 testing laboratories are Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Inc. (RITM), Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), San Lazaro Hospital (SLH), Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), UP National Institutes of Health (UP NIH), Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), and Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC).
Also getting the DOH nod are the laboratory facilities Bicol Regional Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory, St. Luke’s Medical Center-QC, The Medical City – Ortigas, Victoriano Luna Hospital, Detoxicare Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, St. Luke’s Medical Center-BGC, Makati Medical Center, and Philippine Red Cross.
Vergeire said 47 other laboratories are undergoing the DOH’s certification process.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, concurrent spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said at least 38,000 individuals have been tested for COVID-19.
He said the country still has 99,750 test kits and more are expected to arrive soon.
FILIPINOS OVERSEAS
The Department of Foreign Affairs said 32 more Filipinos living or working abroad have been infected with COVID-19, bringing the total to 736 confirmed cases in 41 countries.
Eighty-eight Filipinos abroad have died.
The Asia-Pacific region has more cases of Filipinos infected than Europe, Americas, Middle East or Africa.
Five more policemen have been infected with COVID-19, bringing to 55 the total number of policemen and PNP civilian personnel who have tested positive for the virus.
Three of the 55 policemen and civilian personnel have died while eight have recovered. — With Ashzel Hachero and Victor Reyes
