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The country’s health system has “vastly improved” in the last six months and led to better management of the coronavirus infection, the Department of Health (DOH) maintained on Friday, despite the Philippines ranking 20th among the countries with the highest number of new coronavirus disease cases (COVID-19).
The latest global data from various monitoring agencies, including Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.com, shows the Philippines with 316,678 cases, topping Pakistan’s 21st with 313,431 cases and behind Italy’s 19th with 317,409 cases.
The United States still has the highest number of cases with 7,278,384, followed by India, Brazil, Russia and Colombia.
The Undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, said it was important to consider, when looking at the data, how many of the cases were active.
Wider coverage
“We have to focus on active cases, and not on the cumulative number of cases,” he said. “When we look at our active cases, our recovery rate, the case fatality rate and the capacity of our healthcare system, we can see that we have improved and we believe that we can keep up with our response to COVID-19.”
The country’s recovery rate was at least 80 percent, while its fatality rate was stable at less than 2 percent, Vergeire said.
Vergeire also said the government’s contact tracing efforts have become “more efficient,” although he also said there is room for improvement, particularly among local governments.
With regard to testability, “Our response has improved a lot compared to before,” he said.
Vergeire also noted the broader coverage of hospital treatment. “At this point, we have already expanded our units in our hospitals. It really helped that the private sector worked with us and they also expanded their units. It is important that we look at the capacity of our health system, in addition to the numbers, ”he said.
“We could be in the Top 20 among all the countries in the world with the [highest] number of cases, but when we look at our healthcare system, it has improved tremendously. There was a time when patients had to wait outside hospitals [or] We couldn’t get to the hospitals, ”Vergeire said.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the country had improved in its response to the pandemic.
“We have learned from the past and we know how to better care for COVID-19 patients,” he said.
There were 2,611 additional cases on Friday, bringing the current national count to 316,678.
Of the recently reported cases, 2,150 became ill between September 19 and October 2, while 359 became ill between September 1 and September 18.
Metro Manila accounted for the highest number of new infections with 1,084, followed by Cavite (202), Iloilo (182), Bulacan (163) and Rizal (132).
There are now a total of 254,617 patients who have recovered from COVID-19 with 416 recovering.
However, the death toll rose to 5,616 after 56 patients succumbed to the severe respiratory illness.
Of the recently reported deaths, 43 died in September, six in August, five in July, and one in May and one in April.
Twenty-two of the deaths were from Metro Manila, seven from central Visayas, seven from Calabarzon, six from central Luzon, four from Bicol, two from Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas and Northern Mindanao, and one from Zamboanga, Davao, Soccsksargen. and Caraga.
Recoveries and deaths leave the country with 56,445 active cases, of which 87 percent are mild, 8.8 percent asymptomatic, 1.3 percent severe, and 2.9 percent critical. As of October 1, more than half of all intensive care, isolation and ward beds in the country remain unoccupied, while only 24 percent of the more than 2,200 mechanical ventilators are in use.
In Metro Manila, 53 percent of the 1,800 ward beds, 52 percent of the 4,100 isolation beds, and 55 percent of the 745 intensive care beds are occupied.
A total of 3,558,535 people have been tested for COVID-19 by the 138 accredited labs, as of Friday noon. —WITH REPORT BY JULIE M. AURELIO
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