DOH: Working people comprise bulk of COVID-19 cases in Philippines
August 14, 2020 – 3:39pm
MANILA, Philippines — People who go to work make up the majority of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Philippines, the Department of Health said Friday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the data showed that productive age groups—people aged 20 to 59—comprise the bulk of COVID-19 infections in the country.
“Drivers ng infection ‘yung mga lumalabas ng bahay at pag umuwi sila, sila magdadala ng infection sa kanilang tahanan,” Vergeire said in a media forum.
(The drivers of infection are those who go out of their homes and when they return, they will bring infection to their homes.)
“Part of this group who goes out of their houses are those who work and we assume they are the ones who carry infection and these are the productive age groups,” she added.
The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by age group is as follows:
- Below 10 years old – 3,500+
- 10 to 19 – 6,249
- 20 to 29 – 37,188
- 30 to 39 – 34,700
- 40 to 49 – 23,939
- 50 to 59 – 18,087
- 60 to 69 – 10,687
- 70 to 79 – 4,000+
- Above 80 – 1,000+
The government prohibited dining in at canteens and smoking in common areas in workplaces in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the government’s pandemic response, earlier identified canteens and smoking areas as critical areas for virus transmission.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines has grown exponentially since the government eased containment measures in June to revitalize the country’s battered economy. But the surge in infections also resulted in the health system getting overwhelmed.
The Philippines has so far reported 147,526 COVID-19 cases, with 2,426 deaths.
