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MANILA, Philippines – The number of confirmed coronavirus patients in the country reached 11,876, as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 258 new cases as of 4 pm on Thursday, May 14.
The agency reported 18 new fatalities, bringing the total death count to 790.
Meanwhile, 86 more patients have recovered from COVID-19, bringing total recoveries to 2,337.
Of the 258 new cases, 188 or 73% were from the National Capital Region, and 16 or 6% were from Central Visayas, which includes Cebu City.
Earlier on Thursday, coronavirus testing czar Vince Dizon said there is a backlog of 7,000 COVID-19 tests nationwide, with many government-run laboratories swamped with samples for processing.
Dizon said he met with managers of several private hospitals, who have agreed to handle the testing samples piled up at public laboratories. This way, the government hopes to cover the backlog within two weeks.
The shortage in the country’s capacity to test for the coronavirus and delays in producing results have caused some public health experts to doubt whether government data accurately represents the status of the local coronavirus outbreak.
In a televised media briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Dizon said the country has been running 8,700 tests per day as of May 10, and the country’s testing capacity per day reached 14,500 on the same date.
Still, it’s a long way to go to the target of 30,000 coronavirus tests per day, which the government hopes to achieve by May 30. – Rappler.com
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