MANILA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 119,460 after the country's Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,561 new daily cases on Thursday.
The DOH said the number of recoveries further rose to 66,837 after 569 more patients have survived the disease, and the death toll increased to 2,150 after adding 28 more deaths.
Metro Manila topped the five regions or provinces with the highest number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases reported on Thursday at 2,041, followed by Laguna province, south of Manila, 222; Cebu province in the central Philippines, 221; Cavite province, south of Manila, 100; and Rizal province, east of Manila, 81.
Vivencio Dizon, the deputy chief implementer of the government's response against COVID-19, said the government will hire roughly 10,000 health workers to man the additional isolation facilities across the country.
"This is already happening as we speak, and these health workers are already being deployed to the hospitals, laboratories and quarantine facilities that need them the most," Dizon told a virtual briefing.
Dizon further said that the government will also add 3,000 beds for facilities in Metro Manila, and its adjacent provinces to care for more COVID-19 patients.
These beds, to be available this month, will bring the total isolation beds in these regions to 6,000, he added. Enditem
