COVID-19 infections near 120,000, with 2,150 dead — DoH
THE Department of Health (DoH) reported 3,561 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 119,460.
The death toll rose to 2,150 after 28 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 569 to 66,837, it said in a bulletin.
Of the new cases 2,041 were from Metro Manila, 222 from Laguna, 221 from Cebu, 100 from Cavite and 81 from Rizal, DoH said.
There were 50,473 active cases, 91% of which were mild, 7.8% did not show symptoms, and less than 1% each were severe and 0.5% were critical. More than 1.5 million people have been tested for the virus, it added.
DoH said the Philippines had tested more people than its Southeast Asian neighbors. The country had conducted more than 1.6 million tests as of Aug. 4, with a daily testing average of 28,938 in the past seven days, it said in a separate statement.
This was higher than about 908,000 tests conducted by Indonesia, which had a daily testing average of 14,291, it said, citing the Our World in Data website.
“This increased testing capacity is the result of the government’s continuing efforts to expand its capability to identify confirmed COVID-19 cases, in congruence with the other facets of its national five-point response strategy,” DoH said. “Other facets of this national strategy include prevention, isolation, contact tracing and treatment.”
The Health department said its coronavirus death rate was at 1.8% despite the surge in cases, lower than Indonesia’s 4.7% with more than 5,000 deaths and the global rate of 3.7%.
Meanwhile, the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) warned the public and healthcare professionals against buying misbranded face masks.
In an advisory, it flagged Fu
Le Bang Disposable Mask, Flag
World Face Mask and Mask, which used foreign characters in their labels. —