MANILA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Another 385 COVID-19 cases were recorded in the Philippines on Friday, bringing the total number to 3,018, while the country eyes mass testing of persons suspected of having COVID-19 from April 14.
The Department of Health on Friday said 136 patients have died from the highly infectious viral disease and 52 have recovered. "The sudden spike of deaths is attributed to the late reporting of previous deaths," the department added.
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the national action plan against COVID-19, said that the government is looking to start mass testing persons suspected of having COVID-19 from April 14.
"We're determined to fast track the accreditation of subnational laboratories so we can start the massive testing of the PUIs and the PUMs," Galvez said in a statement, referring to persons under investigation (PUI) and persons under monitoring (PUM).
Galvez said the PUIs and PUMs -- composed mostly of those with COVID-19 symptoms and those who had contact with confirmed cases -- will be quarantined as soon as facilities are available.
Galvez stressed the need to expand the testing, saying it is the only way to tack and isolate COVID-19 cases.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said there are now eight health facilities across the country capable of conducting COVID-19 tests.
The government has put in place other measures to slow the spread of the virus. On Thursday, Nograles announced that the government now requires all individuals in lockdown areas to wear masks or alternatives when they go out of their home.
The government is also fast-tracking the preparation of a stadium inside a sports complex, a convention center and a World Trade Center building in Metro Manila for "instant hospitals", in case of a large-scale local transmission.
The government said that the 112-bed stadium -- to be manned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Corps -- will be operational next week, while the convention center and the World Trade Center will be finished on April 11.
President Rodrigo Duterte has placed Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine, restricting people's movement, to stem the spread of the virus. The month-long lockdown ends on April 12.
Other provinces in the Visayas in central Philippines and Mindanao in the southern Philippines have enforced their own lockdown and quarantine guidelines.
