The country registered 1,594 new confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Wednesday with most of the infected persons found in Metro Manila.
The Philippines’ case count now stands at 72,269. Of the new cases, Metro Manila accounted for 971, followed by Cebu with 252; Zamboanga del Sur, 53; Negros Occidental, 35; and Rizal, 26.
In its latest bulletin, the DOH also reported six new fatalities, raising the death toll to 1,843. The number of patients who have recovered jumped by 342 to 23,623.
“Ang national case doubling time po natin as of July 20 ay 8.47 days, mas mahaba ito kumpara sa inuulat natin nung nakaraang linggo which is 8.18 days ,” said Dr. Beverly Ho, DOH director for Health Promotion and Communication Service in a press briefing.
“Ito ay magandang indikasyon dahil kung natatandaan natin, kapag mas mataas ang case doubling time ibig sabihin nito mas mabagal ang pagkalat ng sakit. ,” she added.
Ho urged the public to continue practicing the minimum health standards to further lengthen the case doubling time.
COVID-free areas
Only four areas in the country remain free from COVID-19 infection since the Philippines reported its first case last January.
These are the provinces of Batanes, Quirino, Aurora and the Dinagat Islands, said Ho.
Last April, the DOH reported 26 provinces that have not had a single confirmed case of COVID-19.
“Inaayayahan na ipagpatuloy ang mga measures na kanilang nasimulan to make sure na wala pong mga kaso ng COVID ,” said Ho.
“Ang kanilang mga local governments ay very active in terms of screening people who come from areas with community transmission na pabalik po sa kanila. So basically talagang heightened po yung vigilance nila at patuloy po ang kanilang pag kampanya to do the minimum health standards sa kanilang mga lugar ,” said Ho.