Philippines reports 3,379 new COVID-19 cases; total at over 122K

The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country rose to 122,754 on Friday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,379 new infections of which 2,298 are "fresh" or newly validated and 1,081 are late. This marks the ninth consecutive day where over 3,000 new cases were reported. Meanwhile, the five provinces or cities with the highest number of new cases are the National Capital Region with 1,846; Rizal with 314; Laguna with 276; Cavite with 145; and Quezon with 66. A total of 85 cases were removed from the total case count. The DOH also announced that 96 more patients have recovered from the illness, bringing the total to 66,852, while 24 more fatalities brought the death toll to 2,168. Among the new deaths, one or four percent occurred in August, four or 17 percent in July, eight or 34 percent in June, eight or 34 percent in May, one or 4 percent in April, and two or eight percent in March. There are also 53,734 active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine. Of this, 91.4 percent are mild, 7.3 percent are asymptomatic, 0.7 percent are severe, and 0.5 percent are in critical condition. According to the DOH, the country’s positivity rate needs improvement at 9.74 percent while case fatality rate was recorded at 1.77 percent. At present, the Philippines has 76 certified polymerase chain reaction facilities and 24 GeneXpert laboratories that have tested a total of 1,577,270 individuals. Meanwhile, 54 percent of intensive care unit beds for patients are occupied while 29 percent of ventilators are being used. On Thursday, the Philippines overtook Indonesia as the COVID-19 hotspot in Southeast Asia. The Health Secretary urged the public to use active transportation such as bicycles amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "Despite the modified enhanced community quarantine, transportation continues to be an important issue... there are still many essential workers commuting daily," he said. He also announced that a health promotion playbook on active transportation has been completed, including "an implementation plan for LGUs that covers the health benefit of using bicycle, guidelines on bike lane urban planning, road safety in harmony with motor vehicles, and template ordinance so that they support users of active transport." —LDF, GMA News

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