MANILA, Philippines – The number of validated coronavirus cases in the country rose to 22,992 on Tuesday, June 9, the Department of Health reported.

The additional cases reached 518, of which 280 are “fresh” while 238 others are “late” cases.

Cases that were released over 4 days ago but only validated recently are categorized by the DOH as “late cases,” while confirmed cases released within the last 3 days are considered as “fresh cases.”

Patients who succumbed to the coronavirus diseases reached 1,017, with DOH reporting 6 more fatalities on Tuesday.

Recoveries, meanwhile, are now at 4,736, after 99 more people beat the coronavirus.

According to the department, 150 of the 518 new cases are from Metro Manila, while 86 are from Central Visayas. Both areas have recently eased quarantine restrictions, transitioning from modified enhanced community quarantine to general community quarantine.

In a virtual forum on Tuesday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III maintained that the uptick in fresh cases “is not related” to the easing of lockdown protocols.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also said during the Tuesday forum that Philippine laboratories have a total of 1,500 remaining cases that have yet to be verified. The government has been testing more “asymptomatic” cases.

Testing czar Vince Dizon earlier said licensed labs in the country are now capable of conducting a maximum of nearly 42,000 tests, though the actual number of samples tested daily remained at an average some 10,000 to 11,300 tests over the last week.

The government earlier aimed – but missed – to carry out some 30,000 swab tests daily by the end of May. (READ: Where are the promised 30,000 tests a day? The government’s moving targets) – Rappler.com