The Philippines on Monday, April 12, reported 204 deaths due to COVID-19, bringing the country’s total death toll to 15,149.

In its case bulletin on Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) said that “34 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.”

The Philippines now has a total caseload of 876,225 after 11,378 new infections were reported. Of the total cases, 18% or 175,451 cases are active or currently sick.

Meanwhile, recoveries are up by 267, raising the total to 703,625.

The DOH also reported a positivity rate of 19.5% out of 27,378 tests in its bulletin. These positive cases are added to the tally of confirmed cases only after further validation. The department explained that the process helps ensure that cases would not be recorded in duplicates and that all test results had been submitted.

The DOH said 6 laboratories were not able to submit their data on time.

Vergeire on Monday morning said that the enforcement of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and nearby provinces did not go to waste as it stopped the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases.

Play Video

She was reacting to the statement of the Healthcare Professionals Alliance against COVID-19 (HPAAC), which said that the two-week ECQ was “wasted” since the long-term changes necessary to curb virus spread were not implemented.

Vergeire said that while the “NCR Plus” was under ECQ, the government was able to add more beds in hospitals and distribute mechanical ventilators across health facilities in the country.

The lockdown in the “NCR Plus” bubble covering Metro Manila and 4 neighboring provinces – Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite – was eased to a modified ECQ starting April 12, until April 30. – Rappler.com