Taguig City says spike in COVID-19 count due to aggressive testing

MANILA, Philippines — The spike in COVID-19 cases in Taguig City is merely due to the massive testing of select areas under a localized quarantine.

In a statement on Wednesday, the city government said that part of the drastic increase in confirmed COVID-19 patients came after “massive testing” showed that 308 of the 691 workers in Fort Bonifacio and 111 residents of Lower Bicutan had contracted the disease.

“These numbers make up most of the city’s new cases in the past few days. COVID-19-positive patients have been isolated and are now closely monitored in government facilities. Rest assured that the local government is on top of the situation,” the city added.

The construction site in Fort Bonifacio has been placed under a localized lockdown after 17 workers were found positive for COVID-19.

Likewise, selected areas in Lower Bicutan has been placed under modified localized quarantine until July 15 due to a ‘clustering’ of confirmed COVID-19 positive individuals.

As of Wednesday, the city registered 1,420 confirmed cases, with 23 deaths and 186 recoveries.

Nationwide, confirmed cases stood at 50,359 after health authorities reported 2,538 cases — 1,922 of which are fresh cases, both record-high single-day reports.

Of the 50,359 cases, 1,314 patients have died and 12,588 have recovered.

/atm