Philippines Virus Cases Top 80,000; Singapore Exceeds 50,000
Philippines Virus Cases Top 80,000; Singapore Exceeds 50,000
(Bloomberg) --
The number of coronavirus infections in the Philippines surpassed 80,000, a level that increases the risk of stricter quarantine measures if the trend continues.
The nation added 2,110 cases on Sunday to reach 80,448, the health department said. There were 39 new fatalities, taking the toll to 1,932. The level of active cases of 52,406 is the highest in Southeast Asia.
Cases also stayed elevated in Indonesia and Singapore. Indonesia reported an additional 1,492 cases on Sunday, for a total of 98,778. The number of deaths as a result of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia’s largest economy rose by 67 to 4,781, the health ministry said on its website.
In Singapore, total coronavirus cases exceeded 50,000 on Sunday, after 481 new cases were reported, mainly among foreign workers who reside in dormitories. As of Friday, there were still 28,000 foreign workers in isolation in various quarantine facilities.
Philippine presidential spokesman Harry Roque told CNN Philippines on July 22 that there’s a “distinct possibility” that movement curbs could tighten in the capital region, which has the highest number of infections, if total nationwide cases hit 85,000 by the end of this month.
The number of cases has jumped 114% this month from 37,514 at the end of June as the government further loosened restrictions. Infections have climbed by more than 2,000 each day since July 23.
“We’ve come to a very crucial point where I think the economy can no longer afford to be shut down anew. But if we have to and there’s no alternative, we need to do it,” Roque said in his interview with CNN Philippines.
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