The Philippines posted 87 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total to 636, the Department of Health announced Wednesday.
The arrival of testing kits and the extension of testing laboratories around the country is the reason behind the spike of COVID-19 cases this month.
“In these coming days, kapag natanggal na po natin lahat ng backlogs makikita na po natin ang totoong mga numero sa pagtaas o di kaya pagbaba dito sa ating bansa,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
The Health Department also reported six new recoveries, bringing the country’s total to 26. They are patients 10, 18, 23, 31, 82,and .95,
Patient 10 is a 57-year-old Filipino male from Quezon City with a travel history from Taiwan. He was confirmed positive for Covid-19 on March 8 and was later discharged on March 23 after two negative results. He is now asymptomatic.
Patient 18 is a 41-year-old male from Pasig City with a travel history from Taiwan. He was confirmed positive for Covid-19 on March 9 and was discharged on March 24 after two negative results. He is now asymptomatic.
Patient 23 is a 30-year-old female from San Juan City with no travel and known exposure history. She showed symptoms of the disease on March 3. She was confirmed positive for Covid-19 on March 7 and was discharged asymptomatic on March 24 after two negative results.
Patient 31 is a 28-year-old Filipino female from San Juan City after being exposed to a known Covid-19 case. She had the symptoms on March 1 and was confirmed positive for Covid-19 on March 10. She was discharged asymptomatic on March 22 after one negative result.
Patient 82 is a 66-year-old Filipino male from Quezon City with no travel and known exposure history. He showed symptoms of COVID-19 on March 5 and was confirmed positive for the disease on March 14. He was discharged asymptomatic on March 24 after one negative result.
Patient 95 is a 64-year-old Filipino female from Batangas with travel history to Italy. She had the symptoms on March 6 and was confirmed positive for Covid-19 on March 14. She was discharged asymptomatic on March 24 with two negative results.
Meanwhile, fatalities leaped to 38 after three new patients succumbed to the infectious COVID-19 disease. The fatalities were patients 29, 319 and 326.
Patient 29 was an 82-year-old Filipino female from Marikina City with a travel history from the United States of America and exposure to a known Covid-19 case. She was confirmed positive on March 10 and died on March 23. She suffered from diabetes, hypertension, and valvular heart disease.
Patient 319 was a 56-year-old Filipino male from Quezon City with no travel and known exposure history. He was confirmed positive on March 21 and died on March 22. He died from community-acquired pneumonia secondary to Covid-19. He also had diabetes and hypertension.
Patient 326 was a 57-year-old Filipino male from Caloocan City with no travel and known exposure history. He died on March 16 but was only confirmed positive with Covid-19 on March 21. He died from acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS) secondary to community-acquired pneumonia secondary to Covid-19. He also suffered from diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension.
Currently, there are 615 persons under investigation and 6,321 are under monitoring nationwide, the online COVID-19 tracker of the DOH shows.
As of this writing, 1,793 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country. (RJ Espartinez)