MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has upgraded its 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) alert from Code Red Sublevel 1 to Sublevel 2. ADVERTISEMENTA Code Red Sublevel 2 is hoisted when there is evidence of community transmission and prevalence of cases beyond what the government can address. The Department of Health (DOH) raised Code Red Sublevel 1 on Saturday after it reported the country’s first case of local transmission of COVID-19 — a 62-year-old man — with no recent travel history contracted the disease. To date, the Philippines has 52 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019. ADVERTISEMENTFor more news about the novel coronavirus click here.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 12, 2020 13:07 UTC