UPDATE: As of 4PM of March 23, total COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is now at 462. DOH recorded 82 new cases, the highest single-day increase.
Department of Health (DOH) announced that there are already 187 confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.
As of 12 noon of Tuesday, March 17, DOH reported that there are 45 new cases (PH143-PH187) of COVID-19. No additional details yet on these new cases.
Meanwhile, the health department also reported the recovery of one confirmed case, bringing the total of recovered patients to four (PH1, PH3, PH14, PH25).
The recovered patient is a 31-year-old Filipino male from Negros Oriental. He is one of two repatriates from the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship who tested positive with COVID-19 last March 9, 2020.
He was tested negative twice already at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga and will be discharged within the day.
“While this is a very welcome development, there is no reason for us to be complacent. In order to contain the virus, we may also need to extend community quarantine to other areas of the country. We need the public to cooperate with us now more than ever and serve as our partners in ensuring that the spread of COVID-19 is put to a halt. Let us all act fast and act now,” DOH Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.
