COVID-19 deaths in PH top 400 as cases rise to 6,259

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 19) — Over 400 people have died in the Philippines due to the new coronavirus, the Health Department reported on Sunday.

With 12 new fatalities, the death toll due to COVID-19 has reached 409, while the total number of infected individuals climbed to 6,259, with 172 new cases tallied.

The Health Department also reported 56 new recoveries, bringing the total of those who survived the viral disease to 572.

On Thursday, it said more than 80 percent of coronavirus patients either exhibit mild symptoms or none at all. The country’s fatality rate, meanwhile, stands at 6.6 percent, which is slightly higher than the global average of 6.4 percent.

There have been more recoveries than deaths for the third consecutive day, as the DOH started concluding in its report patients who have gotten well while under home quarantine. Previously, its recovery count only included those confined in hospitals.

The DOH also explained that it takes around 13 days up to more than a month for patients to recover, depending on the severity of their symptoms.

To contain the spread of the virus, the government has placed Luzon under enhanced community quarantine for a month now, suspending most work, classes, and mass transportation so people would stay home.

The Luzon-wide quarantine has been extended until April 30 amid daily spikes in new infections. Other local government units across the country enforced their own lockdowns.

The Philippines confirmed its first case in late January, a month after the coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China. COVID-19 has since infected more than 2.3 million worldwide and killed over 160,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 global tracker.