COVID-19 case count among Filipinos abroad breaches 20,000

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MANILA, Philippines — The number of COVID-19 cases among Filipinos abroad exceeded the 20,000-mark after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported 153 additional infections on Friday.

The new cases brought the total number of overseas Filipinos who contracted the disease to 20,090, according to DFA figures.

“The spike in the number of cases is due to an increase in reported cases in Asia and the Pacific,” the DFA said.

The DFA, meanwhile, has so far recorded 12,073 Filipinos abroad who recovered from COVID-19, including four new recoveries. Some 6,819 are still undergoing treatment.

There were also two new COVID-19 fatalities reported among overseas Filipinos. The death toll now stands at 1,198.

In the Philippines, 6,686 new cases were logged on Friday. This increase pushed the country’s case count to 1,300,349.

Of these cases, 61,345 remain active while 1,216,497 have recovered.

Meanwhile, 22,507 patients have succumbed from the disease in the country, including 196 new fatalities.

JPV