The Philippines has landed in the top 20 countries with the most number of COVID-19 infections worldwide, data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center showed.
The country on Friday logged 2,611 new cases, bringing the total to 316,678, the Department of Health said.
The John Hopkins count was based on the Philippine tally Thursday which put the total number of infections at 314,079.
The Philippines overtook Pakistan, which fell to the 21st spot with 312,806 cases. At the 19th spot is Italy with 314,861 cases.
The United States remained at the top with 7,273,244 cases, followed by India with 6,312,584 and Brazil with 4,810,935.
Malacañang, however, said the ranking is not a cause for alarm given the country’s low critical mortality rate at 1.75.
“Still, look at the critical mortality rate. We’re still at 1.75 which means that although the numbers are up we are able to take care of those who get severely and critically ill,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in an interview over CNN Philippines.
“That, I think, is what matters most because in a pandemic the fear is that many of us will die. Some are dying, not as many as other countries and, of course, it’s because we have improved our critical care facilities. We have learned from the past and we know how to take care of COVID-19 patients better,” he added.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, for her part, said assessment should go beyond just the total case count and should include factors such as the number of active cases, the recovery and fatality rates, and the condition of the healthcare system.
“We might be in the top 20 among all of the countries in the world with the number of cases, but when we look at our healthcare system capacity, it has improved tremendously,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire said hospitals’ units for COVID-19 patients have been expanded, contact tracing efforts have become more “efficient,” and the daily number of new cases has decreased compared to figures from earlier this year.
“It is not really just the numbers, we have to look at the other variables. We have to focus on the active cases and not the cumulative number of cases,” she said.
“Whatever would be this ranking across the globe, this is because of the totality of the number of cases, but when we look at the number of active cases, our recovery rate, our case fatality rate, and looking at our health system capacity we can see that we have improved and sa tingin natin nakakaagapay tayo dito sa ating response for COVID-19,” she added.