DEEP PROBE A woman gets a swab test for the new coronavirus at Santa Ana Hospital in Manila. INQUIRER file photo / RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines — Cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country surged to 38,511 on Wednesday as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 999 new infections.
Of the newly-logged cases, 595 are “fresh” or those that were detected in the last three days, while 404 were “late” or part of the DOH’s validation backlog.
Recoveries reached 10,438 after the agency listed another 205 recovered patients.
However, four more lost their lives to the respiratory disease, pushing the total COVID-related death count to 1,270.
Of the fresh cases, 175 cases came from Metro Manila, 134 came from Central Visayas, while the other 236 were recorded in other regions nationwide.
Minus the total recoveries and deaths, there are currently 26,015 active COVID-19 cases in the country, 24,638 (94.7%) of which are mild, 1,210 (4.7%) are asymptomatic, 140 (0.5%) are severe and 27 (0.1%) are critical.
According to the DOH, the Philippines currently has 54 licensed RT-PCR testing facilities and 20 GeneXpert laboratories.
Meanwhile, 1,321 (37.17%) of intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide are currently occupied, and 1,975 (24.30%) mechanical ventilators are in use.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night maintained the general community quarantine over Metro Manila—the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Philippines— for two more weeks or until July 15.
Meanwhile, Cebu City, an emerging hotspot due to a spike in local transmission, remains under the stringent enhanced community quarantine.
Experts projected that COVID-19 cases in the country may shoot up to 60,000 by the end of July as the spread of the disease shows no sign of slowing down.
They estimated that cases in Metro Manila may surge up to 27,000 and while 15,000 is the projection for the entire Cebu province by July 31.
COVID-19, which was first detected in Hubei, China late last year, has already infected over 10.4 million people worldwide, killing over 511,000.