DOH: 30 provinces in PH either free from new virus or have lengthy ‘doubling time’

MANILA, Philippines — Some 30 provinces in the country remain free from SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus that causes the highly contagious respiratory ailment COVID-19, or have a dragging “doubling time” of the disease.

This was revealed Tuesday by Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, who also said that confirmed cases of COVID-19 are mainly concentrated in Metro Manila.

According to the DOH official, even if the new virus has aggressively spread in some areas outside of the nation’s capital region there are still provinces where there are either no cases or “doubling time” of the coronavirus is “prolonged”.

“May pagkalat na nangyayari sa ibang parte ng bansa ngunit mayroon pa ring mga probinsya na wala pa ring kaso o matagal ang pagtaas ng kaso, matagal ang doubling time,” she said in a virtual press briefing.

(The spread of the virus has occurred in some parts of the country but there are still provinces that have no cases yet or the spread of the virus is prolonged.)

“Mga 30 na probinsya ito na kinakailangan na patuloy na maging maingat para tuloy-tuloy ang good news sa kanila,” Vergeire added.

(These are 30 provinces that need to remain cautious so good news from them will persist.)

However, she did not identify or enumerate these 30 provinces.

To date, there are 6,599 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country that includes 654 recoveries and  437 fatalities.

Data from the DOH COVID-19 tracker show that 4,600 Metro Manila dwellers have been infected, representing 70% of the total cases nationwide. Also, Metro Manila has posted 289 deaths and 434 recoveries as of April 21.

KGA