New record high: PH confirms 1,046 more coronavirus cases
The Philippines has 16,634 coronavirus cases as of Friday, May 29
by Aika Rey
MANILA, Philippines – Coronavirus cases in the country rose to 16,634, as the Department of Health (DOH) announced 1,046 more cases on Friday, May 29.
The latest numbers were reported 14 days after the government started easing quarantine rules across the country.
Of the 1,046 number of cases reported on Friday, the DOH said 46 are "fresh cases" while 1,000 are "late cases."
According to the bulletin, "fresh cases" are test results released to the patient within the last 3 days, while "late cases" are test results released more than 4 days ago. This is the first time since March that the DOH used these terms to distinguish new cases from backlog.
The DOH also announced 21 more people who succumbed to the disease, bringing the death toll to 942.
Meanwhile, 122 more individuals recovered from the virus. The number of total recoveries is now at 3,720.
The number of cases spiked for a second consecutive day, surpassing the previous record high of 539 new cases on Thursday. The government attributed the spike to its continued effort to clear its testing backlog.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire explained in a news briefing on Friday that the DOH will start identifying the number of "fresh" or new cases, as well as those that came from the testing backlog.
She also said that 430 of the 539 new cases from Thursday's tally were reported late to the DOH Epidemiology Bureau. There were only 109 fresh cases, Vergeire added.
On Thursday, May 28, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that Metro Manila would shift to general community quarantine starting June 1. Davao City, 3 other regions in Luzon, Pangasinan, and Albay will also be under general community quarantine, while the rest of the country will be under the more relaxed modified GCQ.
Under GCQ, majority of industries will be allowed to operate and mass transportation will resume.
The Department of Transportation on Friday announced that public transport will resume in two phases. Train systems, bus augmentation, taxis, transport network vehicle services, shuttle services, point-to-point buses, and bicycles will be allowed to operate starting June 1, while public utility buses, modern jeepneys, and UV Express shuttles will operate by June 22.
More international flights will also be allowed to land in regional airports in Clark, Cebu, and Davao starting June 1. – Rappler.com