MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) reported 590 new cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), bringing the total to rise to 17,224 as of Saturday, May 30.
Of the 590 new cases, only 252 were considered “fresh cases,” or test results released to patient within the last three days. The 338 cases, meanwhile, were considered "late cases" or test results released to patient more than four days.
The Health department also reported that 8 more people died of the disease, raising the death toll to 950, while 88 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 3,808.
The number of daily confirmed cases has risen as a result of increased testing and the DOH's aggressive efforts to catch up on the testing backlog, according to Health OIC-Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire on Friday.
Gaya po ng naipaliwanag namin kahapon, hindi ito nangangahulugan na lumalala ang sitwasyon ng COVID-19 sa bansa,” she noted.
The Health Spokesperson said that the validation process has sped up significantly over the past week as a result of an increase in disease surveillance officers due to the DOH’s mass hiring program. Additionally, the recent rollout of the COVIDKAYA information system, a fully automated data collection platform, has also helped the department receive fast live updates from hospitals and laboratories across the Philippines.
“Dahil dito, asahan natin na marami tayong mairereport na mga na validated na kaso sa mga susunod na araw,” said Singh-Vergeire.
Much of the reporting of COVID-19 cases has experienced a delay due to operational issues with the manual data collection. According to public health epidemiologist Dr. Troy Gepte, this delay needs to be taken into consideration when reading the numbers, because they do not translate to an increase in local transmission at that very moment.
Singh-Vergeire noted that with the bolstering of the nation’s COVID-19 data collection and information system, the DOH will be publishing the daily reports in a different format to better illustrate the variance between newly validated cases and late cases, or those included in the backlog for validation.
According to her, the DOH is confident that the Philippine situation is improving as indicators outside the raw number of newly confirmed cases are looking favorable. When observing the actual date of death and not the date of reporting, the deaths have been decreasing.
Case doubling time, or the time it takes for cases to increase twofold, has also slowed down from once every three to four days, to once every seven days. Singh-Vergeire reiterated that this is the case if the actual date of onset is observed.
The government announced Thursday that Metro Manila, Davao City, Regions 2, 3,4-A, Pangasinan, Albay and Mandaue City will be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) from June 1 to 15.
Meanwhile, the rest of the of the country will be put under modified GCQ (MGCQ).
— The Summit Express
Of the 590 new cases, only 252 were considered “fresh cases,” or test results released to patient within the last three days. The 338 cases, meanwhile, were considered "late cases" or test results released to patient more than four days.
The Health department also reported that 8 more people died of the disease, raising the death toll to 950, while 88 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 3,808.
| COVID-19 Cases PH, as of 8PM May 30, 2020 | Number of Cases |
|---|---|
| Total Number of Cases | 17,224 |
| Total Confirmed Cases Reported Today | 590 |
| Fresh Cases | 252 |
| Late Cases | 338 |
| Reported Recoveries Today | 88 |
| Total Reported Recoveries | 3,808 |
| Reported Deaths Today | 8 |
| Total Reported Deaths | 950 |
The number of daily confirmed cases has risen as a result of increased testing and the DOH's aggressive efforts to catch up on the testing backlog, according to Health OIC-Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire on Friday.
Gaya po ng naipaliwanag namin kahapon, hindi ito nangangahulugan na lumalala ang sitwasyon ng COVID-19 sa bansa,” she noted.
The Health Spokesperson said that the validation process has sped up significantly over the past week as a result of an increase in disease surveillance officers due to the DOH’s mass hiring program. Additionally, the recent rollout of the COVIDKAYA information system, a fully automated data collection platform, has also helped the department receive fast live updates from hospitals and laboratories across the Philippines.
“Dahil dito, asahan natin na marami tayong mairereport na mga na validated na kaso sa mga susunod na araw,” said Singh-Vergeire.
Much of the reporting of COVID-19 cases has experienced a delay due to operational issues with the manual data collection. According to public health epidemiologist Dr. Troy Gepte, this delay needs to be taken into consideration when reading the numbers, because they do not translate to an increase in local transmission at that very moment.
Singh-Vergeire noted that with the bolstering of the nation’s COVID-19 data collection and information system, the DOH will be publishing the daily reports in a different format to better illustrate the variance between newly validated cases and late cases, or those included in the backlog for validation.
According to her, the DOH is confident that the Philippine situation is improving as indicators outside the raw number of newly confirmed cases are looking favorable. When observing the actual date of death and not the date of reporting, the deaths have been decreasing.
Case doubling time, or the time it takes for cases to increase twofold, has also slowed down from once every three to four days, to once every seven days. Singh-Vergeire reiterated that this is the case if the actual date of onset is observed.
The government announced Thursday that Metro Manila, Davao City, Regions 2, 3,4-A, Pangasinan, Albay and Mandaue City will be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) from June 1 to 15.
Meanwhile, the rest of the of the country will be put under modified GCQ (MGCQ).
— The Summit Express
