Duque visits Manila hospitals as Covid-19 cases reach 54K

HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd made a surprise visit to two hospitals in Manila as the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the country reached 54,000.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Health (DoH), there were 1,387 new Covid-19 cases recorded in the country, bringing the total cases in the country to 54,222 with 38,813 total active cases.

Among the total cases processed by 71 out of 79 subnational laboratories, 918 were logged as fresh cases while 469 were part of the continuing backlog of samples that the DoH is currently processing.

79 duplicates were also removed from the total number of cases due to the increased validation of cases.

Meanwhile, 807 have been added to the total number of recoveries, which is now at 14,037, while 12 deaths were added to the toll that now stands at 1,372.

Of the total number of deaths, nine died in April, one in May and two in July.

Of the 38,324 active cases, 92.2 percent were still classified as mild cases, 6.8 percent were asymptomatic and 1 percent were a combination of severe and critical cases.

Meanwhile, Duque made surprise visits to the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRRMC) and the Tondo Medical Center early on Saturday to check on the status of Covid-19 wards and healthcare workers.

JRRMMC has registered a 98.1 percent occupancy rate, or 51 out of its 52 dedicated beds for Covid-19, while Tondo Medical Center has 62.4-percent occupancy for its 101 dedicated beds.

“I visited these hospitals to check on the patients and our healthcare workers on how they are holding up,” said Duque.

“Gusto natin silang kumustahin at alamin kung ano ang kanilang mga pangangailangan (We want to ask our health workers how they are doing and what their needs are),” added the Health secretary, explaining that while the country’s coronavirus response is driven by science and statistics, it is imperative for him to see the situation on the ground.

He also thanked hospital frontliners, who continuously make sure that Covid-19 patients are well taken care of, and promised to do more hospital visits in the coming days.