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| Today's 539 new cases is the country's highest daily tally |
The Philippines
This comes as Malacañang said Metro Manila is “ready” to
move to a more
relaxed general community quarantine starting next month after the
inter-agency Covid-19 task force recommended the shift.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire warned there
could be bigger spike in cases in the coming days due to the faster processing
of test results after more encoders were hired.
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“Inaasahan pa rin po natin sa na sa mga darating na araw
maaari pa rin pong tumaas ang ating mga kaso dahil patuloy na po tayong
nakakapag-validate ng ating mga kaso,” she said in today’s virtual press
briefing.
Vergeire earlier said the Department of Health would try to
clear about 3,600 test backlogs by tonight, Mar 28.
The delay in the release of test results had led to about
30,000 newly returned overseas Filipino workers being quarantined in government
facilities for up to two months, instead of just 14 days.
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Vergeire said only 10 out of 43 licensed laboratories nationwide
have yet to clear their test backlogs.
She also claimed the infection rate has slowed down because
the case doubling time – or when cases double in number from one day to the
next – had slowed down to seven days compared to the peak rate of two to three
days.
The recovery figure continues to outnumber the fatalities,
with 92 more patients being discharged after treatment, raising the total
recoveries to 3,598. The death toll climbed to 921 with 17 new fatalities
reported today.
Among the new cases, 330 or 61 percent were from Metro
Manila, 55 were from Central Visayas (Cebu, Bohol ,
Negros Oriental and Siquijor), 55 were repatriates, while the 99 others were
spread out across the country.
Just last week, the DOH announced that the “first major
wave” of infections peaked on March 31 when 538
new cases were reported.
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Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has said
Metro Manila the National Capital Region could shift from modified enhanced
community quarantine to general community quarantine by Jun 1.
“NCR is ready from the data that we have seen but that
really depends on the cooperation of everyone,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to make the
announcement during his televised meeting tomorrow night with members of the
Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Covid-19.
The IATF has reportedly recommended the relaxation of
quarantine regulations in Metro Manila and Davao City
The ECQ imposed on the two areas is set to expire on Sunday, May 31.
