Coronavirus cases in PH jump to 552; 2 more deaths recorded

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has recorded 51 more cases of the coronavirus disease in the country as well as two more deaths as of Tuesday afternoon.

This brought the total number of confirmed cases to 552 and of the death toll to 35. The number of recoveries is now at 20.

On Tuesday morning, the number of confirmed cases of the disease in the country was at 501, with 33 deaths and 19 recoveries.

If compared to the data of the DOH on Monday afternoon, this means that the tally of individuals who tested positive for the disease in the country jumped by 90, a new daily high, from the previous 462.

A case bulletin from DOH showed that the two new fatalities were patient number 215 or PH215, and patient number 239 or PH239. DOH said PH215 was a 71-year-old Filipino from Quezon City with no recent history of travel or exposure to another patient positive of COVID-19. He died at 2:16 a.m Tuesday due to severe pneumonia, hypertensive cardiovascular disease, and cardiac dysrhythmia. He also had hypertension and diabetes prior to testing positive for COVID-19 on March 18. On the other hand, PH239 was a 76-year-old Filipino from Cavite with no recent history of travel or exposure to another patient. He died at 9 p.m. on March 14 but results for his test came out on March 20. He died due to community-acquired pneumonia high risk, ST-elevation myocardial infarction, acute respiratory failure, and COVID-19. He also had diabetes. Meanwhile, patients who have recovered from COVID-19 were identified as PH130 and PH87. DOH said PH130 is a 21-year-old Filipina from Davao de Oro who recently traveled to the United Kingdom and Qatar. She started showing symptoms on March 3 and tested positive for COVID-19 on March 15. The woman, who also had bronchial asthma, was discharged on March 23 as her second testing turned out negative for the disease after recovering from the illness. PH87, meanwhile, is a 76-year-old Filipina from Quezon City who has been exposed to another patient. She started showing symptoms on February 25, and on March 14 confirmed to have contracted the virus. She was discharged on March 22 after yielding a negative test for COVID-19. The woman also had hypertension and diabetes.

Vergeire reiterated that the figures on confirmed cases would surge in the coming days because of the increase in the number of testing kits and subnational laboratories that can test more patients suspected of having contracted the virus.

COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by WHO, is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. The virus is related to that which causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome but is not as deadly, with only around three percent mortality rate.

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WHO said 80 percent of patients experience mild illness and eventually recover from the disease, while some 14 percent experience severe illness and five percent were critically ill.

The virus is spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth when those infected coughs or sneezes. Health authorities urge the public to practice frequent hand washing, cover their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those exhibiting respiratory symptoms to prevent infection.