MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines extended to 9 straight days its streak of tallying over a thousand coronavirus infections daily when the Department of Health (DOH) announced 1,387 new cases on Saturday, July 11.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the Philippines is now at 54,222.

Of the 1,387 new cases, 918 are fresh cases and 469 are late cases.

Fresh cases are those reported within the last 3 days, while late cases are those reported 4 days before or earlier.

There were 807 new recoveries on Saturday, which is the highest in a single day. This boosts the total recoveries to 14,037.

There were 12 new deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 1,372.

Why is it increasing?

The Department of Health (DOH) said the continued increase in cases is a reflection of an expanded testing capacity. The DOH was currently working with a backlog of 12, 208 tests.

But the DOH also admitted that increased exposure because of the easing of quarantine was also another factor.

University of the Philppines (UP) researchers said that trends show an increase of 50% of fresh cases reported per day from one quarantine period to the next.

The easing of movement of people also increased chances of taking the virus where there was previously none – such as Mandaon town in Masbate which just confirmed its first coronavirus cases – two patients who had traveled from Subic, Zambales. 

As the economy reopened, inflation also went up to 2.5% in June. – Rappler.com