
(Eagle News) — The country’s total COVID-19 cases has breached the 6,000 mark, reaching 6,087 as 209 new confirmed cases were added on Saturday, April 18.
The Department of Health also announced that the total number of patient recoveries had reached 516, while COVID-19 related fatalities rose to 397.
There were again more patient recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, at 29, compared to new reported deaths at 10, as of 4 p.m., Saturday, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
The DOH said that the rise in cases is only expected as the country’s capacity for COVID-19 testing had increased and widened.
At least 17 laboratories have already been certified to conduct COVID-19 tests, according to the Philippine government.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has also announced that it had already approved the DOH guidelines for the use of rapid antibody test kits accredited for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This would mean further increased COVID-19 testing capacity for the country in the next few days.
The DOH targets to conduct 8,000 t0 10,000 COVID-19 tests per day by April 30, at the end of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
(Eagle News Service)