Philippines sees region’s biggest daily rise in COVID-19 deaths
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The Philippines reported Southeast Asia’s biggest daily jump in COVID-19 deaths on Monday and warned of more fatalities ahead, as authorities scrambled to verify thousands of suspected cases and pressure grows on hospitals after the easing of a lockdown.
The government and several large hospitals in the capital Manila said critical care capacity had been reached, adding to fears of its over-stretched health sector being deluged by the contagion.
The health ministry reported 162 new deaths that were confirmed on Sunday plus another 65 on Monday, with 2,960 additional infections. The Philippines over the past week has reported higher daily infections than Indonesia, which has Southeast Asia’s highest number of deaths and cases.
Philippine COVID-19 infections have more than tripled to 57,006 since June 1 when restrictions started to ease to allow some public transport, restaurants and malls to reopen, in a bid to restart an economy decimated by some of the world’s strictest and longest curbs on movement and commerce.
Although the Philippines has ramped up testing lately, the 926,252 recorded represents less than 1% of the 107 million population.
