Six more people have been infected with COVID-19 in the Philippines, bringing the country’s total recorded cases to 193, the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) confirmed in its Laging Handa (“Always Ready”) public briefing today.
PCOO Undersecretary Rocky Ignacio also announced that as of 11am today, one more person has recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recovered patients to seven, while COVID-19 deaths remain at 14.
Details about the new patients have yet to be released by the Department of Health (DOH).
Ignacio, meanwhile, added that the DOH has created a national hotline open to all callers for reporting symptoms, suspected infections, or contact with confirmed cases. The numbers can be seen below.
DOH launched the DOH COVID-19 emergency hotlines 02-894-COVID (02-894-26843) and 1555 in partnership with the National Emergency Hotline of the DILG, and PLDT and its wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc.
For more information, visit: https://t.co/cEdCA2S6Fj pic.twitter.com/jyodB7TcnX
— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) March 17, 2020
Last night, the DOH also confirmed that one of its senior officials has tested positive for COVID-19. The DOH said the person is a director from the agency, but did not release additional details.
Separately, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told radio station DZMM in an interview yesterday that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country may reach to up to 75,000 cases within three months, based on modeling forecasts.
“We are trying to estimate when it’s going to peak, how much cases would there be when it peaks… The estimate is at 70,000, 75,000 in the next three months,” Vergeire said, adding that implementing stricter measures such as the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon, can “flatten that peak.”
The Philippines has been placed under a state of national calamity by President Rodrigo Duterte so the government can access more funds to mitigate the spread of the virus.
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