COVID-19 infections top 67,000; deaths at 1,831
THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 2,241 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the total to 67,456.
The death toll rose to 1,831 after 58 more patients died, while recoveries rose by 398 to 22,465, it said in a bulletin.
The DoH said 89 duplicates had been removed from the tally.
There were 43,160 active cases, 90% of which were mild, 9.1% did not show symptoms and less than 1% each were severe and critical. The DoH said 1.1 million people have been tested.
Meanwhile, 88 more bodies of Filipino workers from overseas were brought home from Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to the Labor department.
In a statement, the agency said 45 were casualties of the coronavirus. The bodies, belonging to the second batch, were repatriated via one chartered flight and one commercial flight, it said.
“We are flying in a greater number of our fallen heroes numbering 88 today from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today,” it said.
The first batch of 49 bodies were brought home on July 10. The Labor department said it would bring home all the bodies of the dead overseas Filipino workers from Saudi Arabia by batches, which totaled more than 200.
As of Saturday, 9,001 Filipinos overseas have been infected with the coronavirus, 5,321 of whom recovered and 634 died, according to the Foreign Affairs department.
The Philippines has reported 65,304 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, with 1,773 deaths and 22,067 recoveries.
More than 86,000 Filipino migrant workers have come home amid the global pandemic. The Foreign Affairs department last week said 46,957 were land-based, while 39,120 were sea-based.
These overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) came from 62 countries and 132 cruise ships. The government earlier repatriated more than 21,000 OFWS and was seeking to bring home about 50,000 more by the end of the month.
The coronavirus has sickened 14.4 million and killed more than 600,000 people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.
About 8.6 million people have recovered from the disease, it added. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Gillian M. Cortez
