* Confirmed cases rise by 538, tally breaches 2,000
* Testing capacity higher as laboratories, kits now
available
* Main island of Luzon halfway through month-long quarantine
(Recasts)
MANILA, March 31 (Reuters) - The Philippines recorded on
Tuesday its largest daily increase in coronavirus deaths and
infections, as it ramped up testing with the arrival of
thousands of kits from abroad and the opening of new
laboratories.
Ten more deaths took the toll to 88, while the tally of
infections rose to 2,084, with 538 additional cases, said health
ministry official Maria Rosario Vergeire.
The ministry has opened new labs and run more than 15,000
tests, a five-fold jump from about 3,000 last week, she said,
adding that more hospitals were seeking government approval to
function as testing centres.
"We have six more laboratories to conduct tests," Vergeire
said. "We are also conducting contact tracing to find possibly
infected persons."
Philippine hospitals are struggling with a shortage of
protective gear, manpower and testing capacity, as are hospitals
elsewhere. The Philippines, the third country after China and Italy to
order home quarantine for a large part of its population of 107
million had until recently reported fewer cases than expected,
with many deaths.
Authorities had attributed that to a lack of testing kits
and lab capacity.
President Rodrigo Duterte has put retired generals among his
cabinet in charge of the task force battling the crisis, saying
its management requires military-style discipline.
Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus:
open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser
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Coronavirus: Knowns and unknowns https://reut.rs/2UHIgvz
Coronavirus spreads in China and beyond https://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?navid=919104201
GRAPHIC-Tracking and explaining the new coronavirus https://tmsnrt.rs/2GVwIyw
FACTBOX-Coronavirus deaths worldwide ID:nL4N2AY3AS
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