COVID-19 strikes over 18K gov’t workers, almost 18K more are suspect cases

MANILA, Philippines — Coronavirus disease has stricken some 18,310 government employees nationwide, while 17,711 more are suspected of having the disease, data from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) showed Friday.

Meanwhile, a total of 205 government offices are currently on lockdown due to COVID-19 cases among its staff.

CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada told INQUIRER.net that the commission is still consolidating the breakdown on active cases, recoveries and deaths from affected government offices, citing difficulty in gathering information in some regions.

Data from CSC showed that Metro Manila, the epicenter of the outbreak in the country, recorded the highest number of confirmed cases among government workers, with 13,430 cases. Another 10,036 employees are likewise suspected of having COVID-19 in the capital region.

This was followed by Central Visayas, with a significantly lower 2,570 confirmed cases and another 3,929 suspected cases.

Calabarzon, on the other hand, has logged 780 confirmed cases and 1,983 suspected cases, while Central Luzon has 290 confirmed cases and four suspected cases.

In a Viber message to reporters, Lizada explained that the number of COVID-19 cases among government employees “must be a result of the swabbing being conducted by government offices and community transmission, most likely.”

Nationwide, the number of COVID-19 cases is teetering closer to 150,000 mark, with 4,002 additional cases of infection reported on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 147,526.

Of this figure, 74,713 are active cases, 70,387 are recoveries, and 2,426 have resulted in deaths.

EDV