MANILA, Philippines — “All in all, para sa akin hindi naman masama ito (for me, it’s not so bad).”
President Rodrigo Duterte said this Thursday night after he reported to the public the latest coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) figures of the Philippines.
On Thursday afternoon, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 539 new cases—the new highest single-day increase in coronavirus infection since March 31’s 538.
Prior to this, the DOH also recorded a total of 1,014 confirmed cases from Monday to Wednesday. However, the Health department attributed the sudden surge in new cases in its increased capacity to validate more cases.
Overall, there are now 15,588 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide, including 3,598 recoveries and 921 deaths.
“Ang patay po (The death toll) is 921. So you would see that the Philippines has…ratio and proportion vis-a-vis with the population, we have a low rate of mortality here in this country,” Duterte said.
Based on the latest data from the DOH, the Philippines has a mortality rate of 5.91 percent, lower than the global average of 6.23 percent.