DOH reports 470 more Covid-19 cases; total now over 32K

Fresh cases or test results released to patients within the last three days stand at 357 while 113 are late cases or backlogs validated only recently. (File Photo by CDC/Unsplash)

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported 470 more cases of the coronavirus disease 2019, jacking up the overall tally to 32,295.

Fresh cases or test results released to patients within the last three days stand at 357 while 113 are late cases or backlogs validated only recently.

In a virtual presser, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also announced the recovery of 214 more patients, raising the total to 8,656 as of June 24.

The death toll currently stands at 1,204 after 18 new coronavirus-related deaths were added to the tally.

While the cases have been increasing for the past few days, Vergeire noted that 96.2 percent of the tally is mild while only 0.1 percent is in critical and 0.5 percent in severe conditions.

“Ibig sabihin mataas ang porsyento na makaka-recover tayo sa sakit na ito (This means there is a higher rate we can recover from this disease),” she said.

She added that the rate of increase in infections had been “gradual” allowing the country’s healthcare system to still accommodate patients.

Meanwhile, she noted that more cases are expected to surface in the coming days as the country slowly reopens its economy, loosens its quarantine restrictions, and expands its testing capacity.

Vergeire said Cebu City, Cebu province, Ormoc City, Southern Leyte, Leyte, and Samar are also emerging as “hotspots” or areas where the number of Covid-19 cases is climbing.

“Hindi pa ganoon karami ang mga kaso sa mga nasabing lugar ngunit nakikita na natin na mas mabilis na tumataas kumpara sa ibang mga lugar kaya agarang nagbigay ng tulong ang national government upang maagapan ang pagkalat ng virus (The number of cases in these areas is not too high but we can see that the rate of increase is faster compared to others this is why the national government immediately sent assistance to prevent the virus from spreading further),” she said.

Vergeire said the government had already provided more equipment to ramp up the testing capacity of Cebu province and has also required strict implementation of public health standards.