Sixteen more Filipinos abroad have contracted the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as of the third day of the new year, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday, Jan. 3.
This, according to the DFA, has brought the total number of infected overseas Filipinos at 24,274 since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020.
The new infections were from Asia, Middle East, and Africa based on the department’s latest bulletin.
The COVID-positive Filipinos were found in 103 countries, with no new cases recorded in Europe and America, it said.
The DFA also reported that 16 Filipinos abroad stricken with the infectious disease have recovered.
“No new fatality among Filipinos in the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Middle East and Africa over the previous week. There were more recoveries than new cases recorded,” the department said.
The death toll remained at 1,452 while those undergoing treatment were at 8,399 and 14,423 of those infected have recovered.
On Dec. 30, the Philippine Embassy in Brussels, Belgium was temporarily closed after one of its personnel tested positive for COVID-19. The embassy will be closed until Friday, Jan. 7.
READ: PH Embassy in Belgium temporarily closed after personnel tests COVID positive
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. earlier said there were also COVID cases in the Philippine Embassy in Madrid, Spain and Seoul, Korea.