MANILA, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 252,964 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 4,040 new cases on Friday.
The DOH said the number of recoveries also rose to 186,606 after 566 more patients have recovered.
The DOH added that 42 more patients have died from the viral disease, bringing the death toll to 4,108.
Metro Manila, the epicenter of the outbreak, logged the most of the daily confirmed cases reported on Friday at 1,813.
The country has tested over 2.76 million people so far.
"Our efforts to strengthen our health system capacity across the country continue," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a virtual media forum on Friday, adding that the focus is to expand the bed capacity of government hospitals.
Moreover, she said the government will also beef up the COVID-19 laboratories and quarantine facilities, and build dormitories for healthcare workers.
Vergeire added the government is studying whether or not to discourage home quarantine.
"The government is closely studying whether or not to discourage home quarantine. There are specifics on who can isolate at home and who should be in the temporary treatment and monitoring facilities which is actually existing," she said.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano earlier unveiled the plan of the government to enforce a strict ban on home quarantine for COVID-19 patients to cut the virus transmission in the households.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, chair of the national task force on COVID-19, said he supports Ano's proposal, adding that a large part of the spike in infections recently were from the "home quarantined people."
"The main issue of home quarantine is that without the correct facility at home, the quarantine is not properly observed thereby infecting the whole family. We will make an exception," Lorenzana said.
Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the national action plan to combat COVID-19, said the government now has 20 mega quarantine facilities plus 28 hotels converted into isolation facilities as of Sept. 5. Enditem
