COVID-19 cases in Philippines climb to 501

The number of persons infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines  has climbed to 501 on Tuesday morning, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

JUST IN: Sa pinakahuling update ni @DOHgovph Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire, tumaas sa 501 ang positibong kaso ng #COVID19 sa Pilipinas.

33 ang nasawi, habang 19 na pasyente ang naka-recover sa sakit. @dzbb

— Isa Avendaño-Umali (@Isa_Umali) March 24, 2020

Of this number, 33 have died while 19 have recovered, Super Radyo dzBB's Isa Avendano-Umali tweeted, citing DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

Compared to the update on Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases now increased by 39. Another patient has recovered, while the number of total fatalities remained.

Vergeire had earlier said that the big increase in the number of cases was due to improved testing capacity of laboratories.

She said the increases of cases might only be an "artificial" trend.

Vergeire said the Philippines is now able to conduct almost 1,000 tests for COVID-19 every day after several sub-national laboratories became operational.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the DOH could be missing half of the actual total number of COVID-19 cases in the country due to the limited testing capacity of laboratories.

“Habang dumadami ang ating testing capacity, malalaman natin ang tunay na trend ng transmission sa Pilipinas,” he said.

Once they have addressed the backlogs in testing, DOH said they can start to acknowledge the actual trend of COVID-19 transmission in the country by observing the increases in new infection cases. --Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA News