CEBU CITY, Philippines – There are five new individuals suspected of having the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) now admitted in hospitals in Central Visayas, latest data from the state’s health department show.
This as the number of patients under investigation (PUI) nationwide, based on the COVID-19 tracker of the Department of Health (DOH), also increased from 133 on Thursday (February 20, 2020), to 139 on Friday (February 21, 2020).
On Thursday, DOH reported no PUI confined in Central Visayas after two more PUIs were discharged.
Read: Two more PUIs discharged in Central Visayas
A total of 54 PUIs have been discharged in the region since January. A total of 455 PUIs all over the Philippines were already discharged as of today.
The number of PUIs in the entire country increased with six additional cases while confirmed ones remain at three.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities noted a drop in the number of people infected with the disease for Friday, which is the lowest number since a month after the outbreak happened.
On February 20, China’s government posted 600 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wuhan City, the epicenter of the outbreak. These figures were seen as a “drastic drop” compared to the over 1,700 additional cases recorded on February 19.
China’s officials attribute the decrease of new cases to their efforts in containing the virus.
A total of 18,440 have also reportedly recovered from the disease that has infected 76, 497 individuals globally – the bulk of which are in Mainland China.
Meanwhile, COVID-19’s death toll outside China rose to 11 as more countries reported fatalities.
Japan has reported two deaths within their territory – a man and woman in their 80s who were among the thousands of individuals quarantined in MV Diamond Princess, which is now moored at Yokohama.
South Korea also reported its first fatality while Iran recorded two deaths due to the disease.
Deaths have been previously confirmed in the Philippines, Hong Kong, France, and Taiwan. /bmjo