WITH 539 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the country on Thursday saw the highest number of infections in a day.
The previous high, 538, was reported by the Department of Health on March 31, or about two months since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the country.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire attributed the new record to the enhanced capacity of the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau to validate test results.
“These cases that we reported came from those that we have validated. So we expect that, in the coming days, the numbers may still rise as we are able to validate more cases, especially since we were already able to hire additional encoders,” said Vergeire.
The country now has 15,588 COVID-19 cases. Seventeen more fatalities were reported on Thursday, bringing the total to 921. As for patients who have recovered, the DOH reported 92 more, or a total of 3,598 recoveries.
The virus which first emerged in China late last year has infected almost 5.5 million persons in 217 countries and territories, and killed at least 349,190 individuals as of May 27, according to the World Health Organization.
Vergeire on Wednesday said the DOH expects increases with the inclusion of test results of overseas Filipino workers. “In the coming days, this will be the trend because we are now including the OFWs, who tested positive for COVID-19,” she said.
The increase from OFWs tests results is expected as President Duterte has given government agencies a week to speed up the processing of certificates of OFWs who have completed the mandatory 14-day quarantine but could not leave government quarantine facilities because they have not received their test results.
ZERO BACKLOG
Nearly four months since the first COVID-19 case was recorded in the Philippines, the DOH is hopeful it can finally have a “real-time” picture of the pandemic beginning today, Friday.
“We have a commitment that, by tonight, hopefully, we can bring our backlogs down fully, and, by tomorrow, we can start fresh already with our (testing),” said Vergeire in a briefing Thursday.
She said 12,000 samples were pending two weeks ago.
“Last Monday, we had about 7,000 backlog. We were able to bring it down to 5,000 on Tuesday, and down to 3,683 backlogs yesterday (Wednesday),” said Vergeire.
The DOH said it was experiencing challenges in ensuring a real-time COVID-19 data because of the backlogs in testing samples.
“We have seen the progress already… We can confirm that 33 out of our 43 laboratories already have zero backlogs,” said Vergeire.
Vergeire on Wednesday said the DOH has ordered laboratories to operate seven days a week while also extending their daily operating hours to eliminate the backlog.
FILIPINOS ABROAD
The number of Filipinos abroad infected with COVID-19 jumped to 2,821 with the addition of 157 new cases, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The new cases came mostly from the Middle East, the DFA said.
Of the 2,821 infected Filipinos, 1,553 are still undergoing treatment while 934 have recovered, or an increase of four.
“The spike covers numbers of cases received from one country in the Middle East where data was not updated for almost two months,” the DFA said though it did not identify the country or the reason for the late update of cases to the DFA main office.
But on a positive note, the DFA recorded no new fatality yesterday.
Based on the latest figures, the Middle East surpassed Europe among regions with the highest number of COVID cases among Filipinos, with 899 and 806 cases, respectively.
The Americas came in next with 633 cases while Asia and the Pacific has 483.
But Americas remained the most deadly place for overseas Filipinos with COVID-19 with 150 deaths followed by the Middle East and Africa with 92, Europe with 90, and Asia and the Pacific with two.
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION
Vergeire said the DOH believes Metro Manila is capable of mitigating a potential wave of COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region which accounted for about 61 percent of the total cases as of Thursday.
“We are confident that the minimum health standards that we have put into place and the strengthening of health systems we have accomplished can mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and adequately meet demand for healthcare services given these relaxed restrictions,” said Vergeire.
She said this is why the DOH recommended the downgrade of the modified enhanced community quarantine in the NCR to general community quarantine.
President Duterte announced the downgrade on Thursday night.
As of May 27, Quezon City has the most cases in the NCR with 2,099; followed by Manila with 1,122; Makati City with 647; Mandaluyong City with 632; and Parañaque City with 616.
Pasig City has a total of 489 cases, Taguig City 435; Caloocan City 404, Pasay City 393, Muntinlupa City 300, San Juan City 290, Las Piñas City 242, and Valenzuela City 221.
Marikina City has with 177, Malabon City 104, Navotas City 103, and Pateros with 42.
According to the latest COVID-19 Situationer Report, there are 972 occupied and 1,828 available ward beds; 3,493 occupied and 6,037 available isolation beds; and 500 occupied and 803 available ICU beds.
For mechanical ventilators, there are 375 used and 1,586 available in different hospitals.
The DOH also said there are 1,348 quarantine and isolation beds in five “Mega Ligtas” COVID-19 facilities, namely the Philippine International Convention Center, World Trade Center, Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Ninoy Aquino Stadium, and Philippine Arena; and 48,394 beds in community-based quarantine facilities.
MANILA
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said the city government is planning to open eight more quarantine facilities to add to the existing four — Delpan Quarantine Facility, at the Araullo High School, at Tondo High School, and at T. Paez Elementary School.
On Thursday, a quarantine facility at the Arellano High School was turned over to the city government.
As of Wednesday, 9,763 swab tests and 58,269 rapid tests have been conducted in Manila.
A of Wednesday, Moreno said 1,301 Manila residents were infected with the virus. There were 1,815 suspected cases and 752 probable cases. A total of 384 persons have recovered while 98 have died. — With Ashzel Hachero
