Latest NewsNewsTFT News

PH active cases reach over 200,000, records 11,000 new cases on third straight day

The Philippines has reached an all-time high in Southeast Asia with the most number of active cases at 203,710.

This comes after the Department of Health reported 11,101 new coronavirus cases on Saturday bringing the total of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 926,052.

At least 96% of active cases are experiencing mild symptoms, 2.9% have no symptoms, 0.5% are in a severe state, 0.4% are in critical condition, and 0.30% are moderate infections.

The death toll climbed to 15,810 after 72 more patients died from the disease.

RELATED STORY: US donates Php170M to PH for its COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Meanwhile, 799 others were cleared of the virus, raising the recovery number to 706,532.

President Rodrigo Duterte has defended the government’s COVID-19 response and downplaying criticisms that the government is slow in acting against the coronavirus pandemic.

In a speech on Thursday, Duterte disputed claims from the opposition that his hesitancy in enforcing travel bans and dealing with the outbreak were the reasons for the surge in cases. The country is now nearing the 1 million mark in COVID-19 cases and exceeded 15,000 deaths.

Duterte uses Brazil, a country severely affected by the pandemic as his reference and comparison in his government response.

“Gaya sa Brazil, bakit sila nagkagano’n? Eh puro suplado eh. While nagkandarapa tayo dito sa Pilipinas we were scrambling where to get the vaccines as early as ‘yong when we constituted the task force,” Duterte said.

READ ON: Malacañang backs efficacy of Chinese vaccines on preventing severe COVID-19, death

“And we were not wanting. I’d like to just disabuse the mind of — na nagkulang tayo. Wala na kayong tinignan kung hindi ‘yong kagaguhan ninyo. Hindi tayo nagkulang, right after the WHO,” he added.

The president also added that the government is doing everything to address the pandemic.

“Do not be afraid. Government is working. Government is busy doing everything…Government is trying to get the things to fix all of us,” he said.

The hashtag #DutertePalpak trended as the coronavirus cases continue to soar due to new variants. The surge in cases also led to the decision of the government to impose the strictest form of lockdown to the NCR Plus bubble area. (TDT)

Staff Report

The Filipino Times is the chronicler of stories for, of and by Filipinos all over the world, reaching more than 236 countries in readership. Any interesting story to share? Email us at [email protected]

Related Articles

Back to top button