A health worker conduct a swab test on a fellow hospital employee at the Sta. Ana Hospital in Manila on April 14, 2020. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News
MANILA - The Philippines has the most number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Southeast Asia as of Tuesday, according to the running tally of the US-based Johns Hopkins University.
Since emerging in Wuhan City in Hubei province, China, the highly contagious disease has so far infected 5,223 people in the Philippines. The tally includes 335 people who succumbed to COVID-19 while 295 have recovered.
The Philippines is followed by Malaysia with 4,987 coronavirus infections, with 82 deaths and 2,478 recoveries. In the third spot is Indonesia with 4,839 cases, with 459 deaths and 426 recoveries.
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are in the next 3 spots with 2,918, 2,613, and 266 cases, respectively.
Indonesia recorded the most number of deaths while Vietnam has zero fatality. Meanwhile, Malaysia has the most number of recoveries, followed by Thailand and Singapore.
95 PERCENT IN LUZON
In the Philippines, most coronavirus cases are reported in Luzon, comprising 95 percent of the tally.
The novel coronavirus has sickened 3,545 people in the National Capital Region, 1,192 in the rest of Luzon, 143 in Mindanao, and 89 in the Visayas. Some 254 cases are still up for validation.
Based on data from the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine cities with most COVID-19 cases are Quezon City with 956, Manila with 451, Parañaque City with 313, Makati City with 306, Mandaluyong City with 260, Pasig City with 221, San Juan City with 187, Taguig City with 186, Las Pinas City with 117 and Pasay City with 115.
Quezon City, the most densely-populated area in Metro Manila, also recorded the most coronavirus-related deaths with 57. It is followed by Manila and Pasig with 28 and 23 cases, respectively.
The only locality outside of Metro Manila to report a high number of deaths is Davao City with 15.
The DOH earlier touted the Philippines as among the countries with least number of COVID-19 cases.
"Isa tayo sa may pinakababang bilang," Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a press briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte on April 9.
Data from DOH as of April 13 showed that the Philippine government has so far tested 38,103 individuals. - With a report from the ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team
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