DOH logs 2,200 add'l COVID-19 cases, majority from NCR; nationwide total climbs to 74,390

MANILA (UPDATE) — The Department of Health on Thursday reported 2,200 additional COVID-19 cases in the country, bringing the total to 74,390.

Of the new cases, 1,314 are "fresh", and 886 are "late" or those whose results were released 4 days or more ago.

Meanwhile, 1,546 are from the National Capital Region, 246 are from Cebu province, 83 are from Laguna, 61 are from Rizal and 48 are from Cavite.

NCR has remained the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, while Cebu has been identified as a hotspot after a spike in cases in the last few months. 

The data came from 76 out of 90 licensed COVID-19 testing laboratories.

The number of additional cases being reported has been around 1,000 to 2,000 daily in the last week, with the DOH attributing it to the easing of quarantine measures for the gradual opening up of the economy.

The DOH said that of the cumulative countrywide total, 48,136 are active cases. These are patients who are still infected or have not yet recovered.

Meanwhile, there are 760 additional recovered patients, the 4th highest number of recoveries reported in a single day, raising the total number of recoveries to 24,383.

The death toll is also up by 28 to 1,871.

“Ang dahilan po kung bakit tila tumaas muli ang bilang ng mga reported deaths ay dahil sa mga reported deaths mula sa Region 7 na ngayon lang nai-report at naipasok sa ating system. With this addition, ang ating case fatality rate today ay nasa 2.5 %,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a televised briefing.

(The reason why there is a seeming increase in the number of reported deaths is because the reported deaths from Region 7 was only recently reported and included in our system. With this addition, our case fatality rate today is at 2.5%.)

Of the 28 new fatalities, 26 were in July, 1 was in May, and another 1 was in April. They were from Region 7 (21 or 75%) and the NCR (7 or 25%).

The youngest among these new reported deaths is 20 years old, and the oldest is 88 years old. 

“Ang 14 sa deaths na ito o 50%, ay nasa 60 years old and above. Kaya naman po ay inuulit namin sa ating elderly population, ang ating mga magulang at mga lolo at lola, na lalong maging maingat ngayong panahon ng pandemya,” Vergeire said.

(Fourteen of the deaths, or 50%, are aged 60 years old and above. That's why, we are reiterating our advice to the elderly population, our parents and grandparents, to be extra-careful during this time of the pandemic.)

The DOH said 79 duplicate cases were removed from the previous total of cases.

There are now more than 15.2 million people infected with COVID-19 worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard. Of those, 8.6 million have already recovered while 623,000 have died.