No new Covid-19 cases in 41 provinces for 2 weeks: DOH

FILE: DOH Undersecretary, Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire (PIA Photo)

MANILA – No new case of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was recorded in 41 provinces nationwide for the past two weeks, a health official said Tuesday.

In a Covid-19 virtual presser, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they have not received any reports of a new Covid-19 case in these provinces starting April 21 to May 4.

These provinces included Abra, Agusan del Sur, Aklan, Apayao, Aurora, Basilan, Batanes, Biliran, Bohol, Bukidnon, Camarines Norte, Camiguin, Capiz, Catanduanes, Compostela Valley, Cotabato, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental, Dinagat Islands, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Sur, Kalinga, Maguindanao, Masbate, Moutain Province, Negros Oriental, Northern Samar, Pangasinan, Quirino, Saranggani, Siquijor, Sorsogon, South Cotabato, Southern Leyte, Sultan Kudarat, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Zambales, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay.

Earlier, the DOH reported that nearly a third of the provinces nationwide have zero Covid-19 cases since the outbreak started.

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These provinces were Agusan del Sur, Apayao, Aurora, Basilan, Batanes, Biliran, Camarines Norte, Davao Occidental, Dinagat Islands, Eastern Samar, Kalinga, Masbate, Mountain Province, Quirino, Saranggani, Siquijor, Sorsogon, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay.

“Ang case doubling time ay tumaas mula tatlo hanggang limang araw. Bagaman ito ay magandang balita para sa lahat, napakaaga sabihin na narating na natin ang rurok ng ating mga kaso, dahil dito patuloy nating dinadagdagan ang ating testing capacity upang makita ang tunay na bilang ng mga kaso sa ating bansa (The case doubling time has gone up to five days from three days. While this is good news for all, it’s still early to say that we have reached the peak of the cases, and so we’re increasing our testing capacity so we can see the real number of cases in the country),” Vergeire said.

To date, there are 22 DOH-accredited testing laboratories in the country: UP-PGH Medical Research Laboratory, Singapore Diagnostics Incorporation, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, San Lazaro Hospital, Chinese General Hospital, University of Philippines National Institutes of Health, St.

Luke’s Medical Center, St. Luke’s Medical Center in BGC, Makati Medical Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, The Medical City in Ortigas, Victoriano Luna Hospital (in coordination with AFRIMS), Detoxicare Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Philippine Red Cross, Marikina Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Baguio General Hospital, and Medical Center, Bicol Regional Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory, Western Visayas Medical Center, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Cebu TB Reference Laboratory, Allegiant Regional Care Hospital, and Southern Philippines Medical Center.