MANILA, Philippines — The number of Filipinos abroad infected with the novel coronavirus remain at 2,178 as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced Sunday that no new cases involving Filipinos were reported.
“Today, for the first time since the DFA began issuing estimates of COVID affected nationals abroad, there are no new confirmed cases and fatalities due to COVID-19 reported by our foreign service posts,” the DFA said in a statement.
“While it could be that this is just a result of weekend dips in reporting, it is still worth taking note,” it added.
10 May 2020
Today, for the first time since the DFA began issuing estimates of COVID affected nationals abroad, there are no new confirmed cases and fatalities due to COVID-19 reported by our foreign service posts. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/r11uQeRjGB
— DFA Philippines 🇵🇭 (@DFAPHL) May 10, 2020
The only reports the DFA received were of two Filipino patients who had recovered in two different countries in Europe.
To date, there are now 642 Filipinos who have recovered from the viral illness, although 253 have died.
Majority of the cases among Filipinos abroad came from Europe, with 651 cases, followed by the Middle East/ Africa with 616, then by the Americas — which has the highest death toll at 136 out of 523 cases — and the Asia Pacific region (388).
To date, over 4 million people worldwide have been infected by the virus that originated from Hubei, China, of whom more than 279,000 have died while over 1.3 million were able to recover.