Philippines has the most number of COVID-19 cases in SEA, catching up with Indonesia

The Philippines now has the most number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia (SEA), overtaking Indonesia after the Department of Health (DOH) announced 3,561 new cases, raising the total to 119,460.

Photo credit: reuters.com

Indonesia logged 1,882 new cases also on Thursday for a total of 118,753, according to The Jakarta Post.

This marks the eighth consecutive day during which over 3,000 new cases were reported in the Philippines.

Indonesia’s mortality rate also remains to be the highest at 20.08, followed by the Philippines at 20.06.

In terms of the total number of recoveries, the Philippines is just behind Indonesia with 66,837.

According to Center for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS), the Philippines is also among SEA countries with the highest number of COVID-19 tests conducted with a total of 1,669,996.

As of August 5, the Philippines had 75 certified polymerase chain reaction facilities and 24 GeneXpert laboratories.

Fifty-five percent of intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide were also occupied while 31 percent of mechanical ventilators were in use.

The DOH earlier said it was scouting some 10,000 additional health workers to substitute for those currently at the frontlines who previously called for a two-week timeout amid the continued surge in infections.

On Wednesday, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said that the Philippines conducted more tests than six other Asian countries in July. 

The DOH, however, noted that ongoing community transmission is also playing a part in the continued rise in cases.

DoH said that there is ongoing community transmission. Meaning, it is becoming harder to clearly identify who infected the new cases or from which venues people are getting the infection.

The government also launched the “One Hospital Command” earlier on Thursday to facilitate the seamless referral of COVID-19 patients. And it will intensify testing and contact tracing in communities during the two-week Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).