PH’s virus cases surpass 61,200 mid-July, outpacing UP experts’ guess

MANILA, Philippines — An additional 2,498 individuals have been infected with the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV2, which causes COVID-19, bringing the country’s total caseload to 61,266 as of Thursday.

The nationwide tally outpaced the earlier projection of experts from the University of the Philippines, whose forecast indicates that COVID-19 cases in the Philippines might hit 60,000 by the end of July.

Of the new cases, 1,246 were tagged as “fresh cases,” or those whose results were validated and released within three days, and 1,252 were labeled as “late” cases, while 38,183 of the total count are considered “active”, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

Meanwhile, DOH reported the recovery of 467 more people infected with COVID-19. Total recoveries are now at 21,440.

On the other hand, DOH said the death toll rose to 1,643 as the serious respiratory disease killed 29 more patients.

Globally, the virus already infected more than 13.7 million people and killed more than 587,000 as of July 16. Over 8.1 million people have recovered so far from the disease.

KGA