Philippines’ COVID-19 recoveries keep lead over deaths; cases now 5,660

The number of patients who have recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines surpassed the death toll for the second day in a row on Thursday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported a record-high 82 more recoveries and 13 new fatalities.

The total number of recoveries now stands at 435 while deaths rose to 362.

Meanwhile, infections nationwide jumped to 5,660 after the DOH confirmed 207 new cases.

Dr. Beverly Ho said 75 percent or 4,237 patients only show mild symptoms while 9 percent or 530 are asymptomatic.

One percent or 65 patients are in severe condition, while another 1 percent or 31 are already critical.

Ho added that the number of recoveries could be more than what is reported since the figure announced daily only includes positive patients who underwent repeat testing.

“Ang ating mga recoveries ay maaari pang tumaas dahil hindi pa po dito kasama ang mga pasyenteng clinically recovered or ‘yung mga pinayagan nang umuwi ng kanilang doktor at inabisuhang mag-self-quarantine,” she said.

Ho also reported that the country’s COVID-19 testing centers have conducted 42,215 individual tests as of Wednesday night, 6,188 of which came out positive while 35,985 were negative.

The country still has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, trailed by Malaysia which has 5,182 infections with 84 deaths and 2,766 recoveries as of Thursday.

As the Philippines grapples with the coronavirus menace, its health chief Francisco Duque III faces calls for resignation from several senators who slammed his “poor” handling of the crisis. 

Malacañang, however, said it would keep Duque at the helm of the Health department.

Earlier on Thursday, Malacañang also said the country is yet to flatten its COVID-19 curve with only two weeks left before the end of the Luzon-wide quarantine.  —LDF, GMA News