DOH reports 208 more coronavirus cases
Some 208 additional coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases were reported in the Philippines, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday.
As of 4pm, the DOH said with new infections, the country has now a total of 12,513 COVID-19 cases.
Metro Manila reported additional 174 new cases; Central Visayas with one; while other regions, 33.
Among the COVID-19 cases, seven new fatalities were recorded bringing the total number of deaths to 824.
Also, the DOH reported 74 new cases of recoveries among COVID-19 patients, bringing the number of recoveries to 2,635.
The Health department also said the country has now a total of 13,500 bed capacity for COVID-19 patients and 1,983 ventilators have been in use.
As of May 16, there were 30 testing facilities in the country.
Meanwhile, for temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, DOH said the Ligtas COVID facilities have a total of 40,497 bed capacity while the Mega Ligtas COVID facilities can accommodate 1,348 individuals.
Local COVID centers are community-managed local isolation and general treatment areas for COVID-19 cases dedicated for quarantine or isolation of suspected COVID-19 cases while the Mega Ligtas COVID facilities are managed by the national government.
After the government downgraded some areas in the country to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) and GCQ, some workers are expected to return to work by Monday.
But the DOH clarified that testing their employees for COVID-19 is not a condition for them to go back to work.
“The IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) resolution stated that in no case shall testing be a condition for return to work. So, we expect that specific agencies shall implement and enforce the IATF resolutions,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
"We have emphasized that symptomatic screening is ideal, or test only when symptomatic," she added.
According to DOH Memorandum No. 2020-220, companies may do a “representative sample” if they still want to conduct testing to their asymptomatic workers “who have returned to work physically and have a high risk of contracting COVID-19 due to the nature of the work."
The DOH, however, said the costs of such testing will not be covered by the Philippine Health Insurance and shall, therefore, be borne by the employers. Ella Dionisio/DMS
