MANILA, Philippines — The number of people infected with COVID-19 in the country has breached 10,000 on Wednesday, with the Department of Health (DOH) recording 320 new cases.
In its latest report, DOH said coronavirus infection in the Philippines has now reached 10,004 while the recovery of 98 more patients brought the total count to 1,506. The demise of an additional 21 people with severe respiratory ailment COVID-19, meanwhile, boosted the death toll to 658.
According to DOH, 179 or 56% of the new COVID-19 cases were from Metro Manila while 98 or 31% were from Central Visayas.
So far, DOH said it has tested a total of 124,420 individuals for the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19. Of this, 12,872 or 11 % tested positive for the virus while 111,025 or 89% tested negative.
Vergeire clarified that the number of individuals found infected with the disease may be higher than the number of reported confirmed cases as these still undergo case investigation and validation.
DOH has been working towards an “expanded testing” or “targeted testing” although it missed achieving its 8,000 tests per day goal by the end of April. Nevertheless, DOH said it now aims to conduct at least 30,000 tests a day by the end of May to determine the “complete picture” of the pandemic in the country.
Unlike mass testing, “expanded testing” or “targeted testing” intents to broaden the scope of tests to include even exposed but asymptomatic patients and healthcare workers as among the priorities.
Over 3.6 million individuals across the globe have so far been infected with the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, of which more than 250,000 have died while 1.1 million were able to recover. SARS-CoV-2 causes the potentially deadly illness, COVID-19.
A local epidemiology expert earlier said the curve of COVID-19 pandemic is flattening, citing the recent decline in the number of new cases and deaths due to the novel coronavirus.
The Philippines’ case doubling time has lengthened to “around four days” while the mortality rate shows a “more dramatic” slow down as it approaches the seven-day rate, according to Dr. John Wong, president and founder of think tank EpiMetrics, Inc.
The flattening of the curve is also “more evident” in Metro Manila where the vast majority of the COVID-19 cases nationwide are condensed, Wong added.