41 more recover from COVID-19 in Philippines as cases climb to 6,459

The number of patients who have recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) climbed to 613 on Monday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 41 new recoveries as cases nationwide climbed to 6,459 with 200 new infections.

The death toll from the respiratory illness also rose to 428 with 19 more fatalities.

Data from the DOH show that 52,837 people have been tested for COVID-19 as of Saturday, 86.4 percent of whom tested negative while 13.6 percent were positive.

View the latest on the coronavirus pandemic here:  https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/covid-19/

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Sunday said that the tally of COVID-19 cases this week may be affected by the temporary scale-down of operations at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to give way to safety procedures.

Vergeire also announced that COVID-19 test kits that can produce results in 45 minutes to one hour will be arriving from the United States on Monday. 

Test kits that were developed by the University of the Philippines (UP) have also been rolled out at the UP National Institutes of Health. —LDF, GMA News