COVID-19 cases in Philippines soar past 57,000 with 836 new reported cases

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 57,006 after the country's Department of Health (DOH) reported 836 new cases on Monday afternoon.

   The DOH said that the number of recoveries further rose to 20,371 after 4,325 more patients have survived the disease, which is the largest daily rise in recoveries since the outbreak of the pandemic.

   The death toll also increased to 1,599 after 65 more patients have succumbed to the viral disease, the DOH said.

   "Eighty-nine duplicates were removed from the total case count after validation," the DOH added.

   Guido David, a professor at the University of the Philippines Institute of Mathematics, projected the COVID-19 cases to breach the 80,000 mark by the end of July.

   David told the local media that the country's capital region Metro Manila has seen a "genuine surge" in infections in previous days as shown by data.

   The Philippine Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the inter-agency coronavirus task force of the government did not recommend the easing of quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila.

   Metro Manila and most part of the Philippines has been on strict lockdown since mid-March, and the lockdown rules were eased on June 1.