Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Sunday confirmed 73 new cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines, bringing the total to 380.

“As of last night, meron na po tayong 380 positive COVID-19 cases. May bago po tayong naitala na 73 mula sa 307 kahapon,” she said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

From 19 deaths, the fatality record climbed to 25.

Meanwhile, 15 patients have recovered.

Vergeire attributed the big increase in the number of cases in the past few days to the improved testing capacity of laboratories. She said the increases of cases in the coming days might only be an ‘artificial’ trend.

“Ang atin pong laboratoryo ay nag-i-stabilize na ng capacity. Nakakahabol na po tayo sa ating mga backlogs before kaya pumapasok na ngayon ang maraming test result,’ she said.

“Maaaring artificial lang ang pagtaas na ito in the coming days because of the test results that had been delayed in the past,” she added.

Vergeire earlier said the Philippines is now able to conduct almost 1,000 tests for COVID-19 after several sub-national laboratories became operational. —KG, GMA News

SOURCE: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/730776/covid-19-cases-in-philippines-climb-further-to-380-death-toll-at-25/story/