Epidemiological Profile and Transmission Dynamics of COVID-19 in the Philippines

The Philippines confirmed local transmission of COVID-19 on 7 March 2020. We described the characteristics and epidemiological time-to-event distributions for laboratory-confirmed cases in the Philippines. The median age of 8,212 cases was 46 years (IQR: 32-61), with 46.2% being female and 68.8% living in the National Capital Region. Health care workers represented 24.7% of all detected infections. Mean length of hospitalization for those who were discharged or died were 16.00 days (95% CI: 15.48, 16.54) and 7.27 days (95% CI: 6.59, 8.24). Mean duration of illness was 26.66 days (95% CI: 26.06, 27.28) and 12.61 days (95% CI: 11.88, 13.37) for those who recovered or died. Mean serial interval was 6.90 days (95% CI: 5.81, 8.41). Epidemic doubling time pre-quarantine (11 February and 19 March) was 4.86 days (95% CI: 4.67, 5.07) and the reproductive number was 2.41 (95% CI: 2.33, 2.48). During quarantine (March 20 to April 9), doubling time was 12.97 days (95% CI: 12.57, 13.39) and the reproductive number was 0.89 (95% CI: 0.78, 1.02).