MANILA, Philippines – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Philippines  breached 25,000 on Saturday, June 13.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported that there are now 25,392 after 607 new cases were added on Saturday.

Twenty-two more people died of COVID-19 on Saturday, raising the death toll to 1,074.

There were 252 new recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 5,706.

Of the new cases, 504 were fresh cases, and 103 were late cases. 

“Today’s fresh cases are based on the daily accomplishment reports submitted by only 43 out of 54 current operational labs,” said the DOH.

Late cases refer to those results released to patients 4 days ago or earlier, but were only validated recently.

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to address the nation on Monday, June 15, and announce if there will be changes to lockdown rules amid the continued rise of coronavirus cases in the country.

On June 1, Duterte placed Metro Manila, Davao City, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Pangasinan, and Albay under under general community quarantine (GCQ) for 15 days or until June 15.

Duterte would decide on June 15 whether to keep areas with continued high COVID-19 cases under GCQ or allow then to transition to modified GCQ (MGCQ) starting June 16.

Under MGCQ, all businesses and establishments will resume operations, public transportation will return to full capacity, and gyms and cinemas will be allowed to open at half capacity.

Churches will also be allowed at half capacity under MGCQ.

The DOH said that the spike in fresh cases since the easing of the lockdowns was mostly due to the improved reporting capacity of laboratories.

Experts have earlier warned that based on predictions plotted from data, early easing of lockdowns would result in 24,000 cases and 1,700 deaths by June 15. As of June 13, there are 25,392 cases and 1,074 deaths.

Scientists from the University of the Philippines (UP) also predicted that Cebu could become a “second major battleground” for the virus, projecting 11,000 coronavirus cases in the province by June 30. – Rappler.com