No new fatality among Filipinos overseas; spike in total cases noted, mostly from Middle East
By Roy Mabasa
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday recorded 157 new confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases among Filipinos abroad, spiking the total number of infections among overseas Filipinos to over 2,800 mark.
In its latest tally, the DFA noted that the latest spike was reported mostly from the Middle East while there were four new recoveries in Asia and the Pacific.
On the positive note, no new fatalities were reported from the different foreign services posts.
In explaining the sudden surge of confirmed cases, the DFA said the spike include numbers received from one country in the Middle East where data was not updated for almost two months.
Based on the latest figures, the foreign affairs office said Europe and the Middle East still have the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases among Filipinos, with Asia and the Pacific the fewest number of cases, and the Americas still has the highest number of fatalities.
Of the 2,821 total number of confirmed CO ID-19 cases among Filipinos abroad, 1,553 are live cases or individuals undergoing treatment, 934 recoveries, or have been discharged from the hospital and a total of 334 fatalities. desk
Meanwhile, more than 600 Filipinos affected by the outbreak of the pandemic were repatriated on Thursday courtesy of back-to-back flights from Cambodia, Germany, and Portugal, respectively.