The Philippines on Tuesday, March 30, logged 9,296 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total to 741,181.

Of the total cases, 16.8% or 124,680 are active or currently sick – the highest reported number of active cases since the coronavirus pandemic started.

The Department of Health (DOH) also reported 5 new deaths due to COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 13,191.

Meanwhile, recoveries are up by 103, raising the total to 603,310.

For 5 straight days, the country has been reporting over 9,000 cases. The highest single-day tally remains to be the 10,016 recorded on Monday, March 29.

Just in March, at least 164,829 new cases have been reported, excluding duplicates removed by the DOH. This is already more than the combined 144,722 new cases reported from December to February.

The government does not have any plans of conducting mass testing even as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

Vergeire said what the government has been doing is “risk-based” testing, where local government units would do house-to-house visits to identify those who have symptoms of COVID-19, subject them to testing, and isolate them immediately if found positive.

The DOH on Monday projected that the enforcement of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the “NCR Plus” bubble would prevent the Philippines’ active COVID-19 cases from hitting 430,000 by the end of April.

Vergeire said their data monitoring showed that there is a “continuing and swift rise of cases” in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite, collectively dubbed “NCR Plus.”

“NCR Plus” is under ECQ from Monday until Easter Sunday, April 4, limiting movement of people in the area only for essential needs. The national government is looking at extending the lockdown to April 18. – Rappler.com