The Philippines has been listed as one of the top 20 countries with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world despite a downtrend in newly reported cases within the past few days.
Data from Johns Hopkins University show that the Philippines has hit the twentieth spot with more than 314,000 cases as of noon of October 2. The country followed Italy with more than 317,000 cases. The US remains on the top spot with 7.31 million cases.
Despite the country’s inclusion in the list, the Department of Health (DOH) emphasized that “when we look at our system capacity, it has improved tremendously.” It also explained that the list was only based on the cumulative number of cases since the start of the pandemic.
The DOH cited that the contact tracing measures of local government units and the expanded testing effort have been boosted, covering at least 3.5 million individuals.
“From 16,000 weekly cases last August 6 to 12, bumaba na po tayo sa 3,772 weekly cases nitong nakaraang lingo as of September 28 (From 16,000 weekly cases last August 6 to 12, the number has gone down to 3,772 in the past week as of September 28),” DOH USec. Maria Rosario Vergeire reported.
“When we look at the recovery rate, nandoon na po tayo sa 80 percent or more. ‘Pag tiningnan po natin ang case fatality, nag-stable po ang case fatality natin to less than 2 percent (In terms of recovery rate, we are at 80 percent or more. Case fatality also got stable to less than two percent),” Vergeire added.
Meanwhile, the DOH said the country’s COVID-19 response still needs improvement including the aspect of contact tracing.
As of Oct. 2, there are 316,678 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 254,617 recoveries, and 5,616 fatalities nationwide. – Report from Mark Fetalco
