Covid-19 cases top 500,000 

Covid-19 infections in the Philippines topped the 500,000 mark on Jan 17., nearly a year after it confirmed its first case of the disease, the Department of Health said in a report by CNN Philippines.

The DOH said the nationwide count is now at 500,577, of whom 24,691 or 4.9% are active cases. The latest report showed 84.6% of the currently ill patients experience mild symptoms, 6.6% have no symptoms, 5.3% are in critical condition, 3% are severe cases, while 0.47% are moderate cases.

Davao City logged the highest number of new infections nationwide with 107, the DOH said. This is followed by Quezon City with 106, Isabela with 65, Pampanga with 63, and Bulacan with 62.

Another 5,868 recoveries also raised the tally of survivors to 465,991, which account for 93.1% of the total patients.

Meanwhile, 11 more fatalities brought the death toll to 9,895. Of this number, five were earlier reported as recoveries and were reclassified as deaths, according to DOH.

The department also said five testing laboratories failed to submit their data on time and were not yet included in the latest figures. It added that nine duplicates were removed from the overall count after final validation.

Health experts and officials have warned of a spike in the country’s cases due to increased movement and gatherings over the holidays, as well as the recent Feast of the Black Nazarene which drew hundreds of thousands of devotees to the Quiapo Church despite the cancellation of the Traslacion.

The country confirmed its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 30 last year, a 38-year-old female Chinese national who travelled to the Philippines from Wuhan, which was then the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.