Philippines records over 1 million COVID-19 cases

The number of COVID-19 cases logged in the Philippines since the start of the pandemic topped 1 million on Monday (Apr 26), as a health official warned against easing restrictions, to give hospitals some “breathing room”.

Nearly 9,000 new infections in the past 24 hours took the country’s caseload to 1,006,428 – the second-highest in Southeast Asia – with 16,853 fatalities, government figures show.

Limited testing means the actual number of cases is probably much higher.

A lockdown imposed on the national capital region and four surrounding provinces at the end of March to slow a record surge in infections appears to be working.

New cases in the capital – the epicentre of the outbreak – fell 20 per cent to an average of 3,841 per day last week, data released by independent research group OCTA show.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds allocated for COVID-19 patients has also eased after capacity was boosted and isolation facilities for mild cases expanded.