The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on Saturday called on the faithful to pray for the quick recovery of Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila from COVID-19.
In a statement, Archbishop Romulo Valles, CBCP president, asked for prayers so that the cardinal “can resume his important ministry” in the Church.
“We extend our prayers of fast recovery, complete healing, and good health to Cardinal Advincula,” Archbishop Valles wrote.
“We assure him of our closeness with him with our love, support and prayers,” he added.
Archbishop Valles also asked his fellow bishops to offer Masses for the fast healing of the 69-year-old Manila prelate.
“I ask my brother bishops to please include in all our daily Mass intentions the full recovery of our dear cardinal,” said Archbishop Valles.
“We bring all our prayer to the Lord and to our Blessed Mother for an end to this pandemic, for all those who are sick, and those who care for them,” he added.
The Manila archdiocese on Friday night announced that the cardinal tested positive for COVID-19 and experiencing mild symptoms.
“He is in quarantine, observing strict protocols,” the archdiocese said. “Doctors are also monitoring his condition.”
On Saturday, September 18, the Department of Health confirmed 23,134 new COVID-19 cases – the second highest single-day COVID-19 tally since the pandemic began.
It raised the country’s total caseload to 2,347,550. Of these cases, 184,088 are active cases, or those who are currently sick with COVID-19.
New deaths were recorded at 255, bringing the Philippines’ death toll to 36,583.
The country also recorded 27,024 new recoveries, marking a total 2,126,879 recoveries in the country from COVID-19.
The DOH reported a positivity rate of 26% out of 73,635 tests in its bulletin. The positivity rate of 26% means that more than one in four people tested turned out positive for the virus.
The Philippines is facing its worst surge of daily COVID-19 cases yet, driven by the highly infectious Delta variant – now the dominant variant in the country. So far, the highest daily count was on Saturday, September 11, with 26,303 new cases.
