Covid-19 cases in the Philippines breached the 3,000-mark as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 385 new cases on Friday.
Confirmed cases now total 3,018, from 2,633 on Thursday.
The death toll rose to 136 on Friday from 107 the previous day. Fifty-two patients have recovered, the DOH said.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH was looking into why the number of cases continued to rise despite the enhanced community quarantine going on its third week.
Vergeire said this was likely due to increased testing.
“Iyan po ang mga pinag-aaralan natin sa ngayon. Pero ang unang-una nating tinitingnan diyan, of course, iyong factor po ng pagkakaroon nang mas mataas na antas ng pagte-test natin. Iyong kapasidad po natin ay nakapag-extend tayo ng capacity. Dati po ang nagte-test lang ay iyong ating RITM. Ngayon po, marami na ho tayo, may walo na ho tayong laboratoryo na gumagana kasama ang RITM para makapag-test. Nagkaroon din po tayo ng enough supply ng ating testing kits kaya po mas napadali at nakapagpa-test tayo nang mas marami,” she said in a briefing ahead of the release of Friday’s figures.
The government will do mass testing beginning April 14, but only for persons under investigation and persons under monitoring for possible Covid-19 infection.
“Ito po ay magkakaroon din ng protocol kung saan, kung sakali pong itutuloy nga ito, iyong atin pong mga may sintomas ang uunahin natin na i-test natin. Sila po ang iti-test at kung sakaling magpositibo, ilalagay natin sa community quarantine facilities. That was the plan and that is the plan,” Vergeire said.
Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Edsel Salvana said Friday’s data was “cautiously okay news” as it showed that the doubling time of confirmed cases was below the rate of “unimpeded acceleration” and this might be due to the quarantine.
385 new cases. Now at 3,018. Assuming no backlogs, this is CAUTIOUSLY ok news. Because the doubling time is now 5 days. We were at 1,546 cases March 30. Unimpeded acceleration is doubling time of 3 days. This MIGHT be because of ECQ. Fingers crossed. #COVID19 #Philippines ???????????? pic.twitter.com/j1rgLWvs0y
— Dr. Edsel Salvana (@EdselSalvana) April 3, 2020
(PressONE.ph)