MANILA, Philippines – The total number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in the Philippines has breached the 30,000 mark the Department of Health (DOH) said on Sunday.
DOH explained that an increase of 653 cases reported Sunday — 415 of which are fresh cases or newly-reported patients while 238 are from the case backlog – brought the number of cases to 30,052.
Of the 415 fresh cases, 219 are from the National Capital Region (NCR), 89 from Central Visayas which includes Cebu City, and 107 from other areas. Meanwhile, one patient who allegedly had a duplicated entry was subtracted from the total number of cases.
There were also 19 additional deaths recorded, bringing the number of deaths in the country because of the pandemic to 1,169. Recoveries from the disease are currently at 7,893.
The 30,052 figure is just 10,000 cases shy of the projections made by a team of University of the Philippines researchers. According to their study, the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country may reach 40,000 by the end of June, if the transmission potentiality of the disease remains high.