BEATING POLIO AMID COVID-19. Barangay health workers administer oral anti-polio vaccine to a baby during the door-to-door “Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio Campaign” at the Molino Homes II Subdivision in Barangay Salitran 3, Dasmariñas City, Cavite on Friday, October 2. Under the program, vaccination teams visit communities to give oral anti-polio vaccine to all children five years old and below. | PNA photo by Gil Calinga

THE Philippines is among the top 20 countries with the most number of novel coronavirus infections in the world after the Department of Health logged 2,415 additional cases on Thursday, October 1.

The new cases bring the official tally to 314,079, making the Philippines still the country with the most number of infections in Southeast Asia.

The country surpassed Pakistan’s 312,806, which previously held the 20th spot. The Philippines followed Italy, which had 317,479 COVID-19 cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Globally, the United States remains as the country with the highest number of cases at 7.27 million, followed by India (6.31 million), Brazil (4.81 million), and Russia (1.17 million).
Thursday numbers

Of the latest figures reported from the DOH, 930 came from Metro Manila, 238 came from Cavite, 128 came from Rizal, 123 came from Laguna, and 103 were from Negros Occidental.

The country’s capital region is under general community quarantine (GCQ) for the entire month of October.

The DOH also recorded 59 new fatalities, which brought the death toll to 5,562.

Recovered patients, meanwhile, increased to 254,223 after the agency logged 771 new recoveries.

The University of the Philippines OCTA Group projected that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country would reach 380,000 to 410,000 by the end of October.
Malacañang, for its part, maintained that the country’s treatment of infected patients deserves praise.

“Look at the critical mortality rate. We’re still at 1.75, which means, that although the numbers are up, we are able to take care of those who get severely and critically ill,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ The Source.

“That I think is what matters most because in a pandemic the fear is that many of us will die. Some are dying, (but) not as many as other countries and, of course, it’s because we have improved our critical care facilities. We have learned from the past and we know how to take care of COVID-19 patients better,” he added.