Philippines confirmed 16 new cases of COVID-19
The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed 16 new cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines on afternoon of March 11.
With this updated report from the health agency, the total number of coronavirus disease 2019 cases now in the country is raised to 49. Earlier on Wednesday, 4 new cases confirmed in Marikina City.
Mayor Marcelino Teodoro gave an update about this stating that the new patients of coronavirus lived together with the 86-year-old American citizen who tested positive for the disease.
Apparently, the number of cases continues to rise as days pass by. Based on the recent report from ABS-CBN, DOH raised its response level to Code Red, Sub-level 1. This means that all health personnel and resources should be ready for deployment, after at least one confirmed local transmission, a COVID-19 patient with no travel history.
As of press time, the Philippines has recorded only two of the first three cases have recovered. They were all Chinese-nationals who came from Wuhan, China, considered to be the epicenter of the virus. On the other hand, the new cases announced this week remained in hospitals.
The government of the Philippines will raise the Code Red alert level to Sub-level 2 once circumstances will reach to community-wide transmission. Following this, lockdowns can be imposed in certain areas and schools and offices. This will also mean class and work suspension.
Amid the rising number of confirmed cases, the DOH is assuring the public that the agency is preparing for the possibility of community-wide transmission, based on the report.
The World Health Organization reported there are 113,000 COVID-19 cases confirmed across the world and 4,000 patients have died.
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