A village worker wearing a protective suit uses a machine to spray disinfectants as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in Metro Manila, the Philippines on March 26, 2020. AP
The coronavirus death toll in the Philippines rose to 78 on Monday — the second highest in Southeast Asia outside Indonesia — with 1,546 reported infections.
“With respect to the high proportion of deaths in the Philippines, that’s essentially because of the way Philippines has chosen to test,” WHO technical advisor Matthew Griffith told a news conference, referring to the focus on testing only the most severe cases until now.
“We expect the testing to increase substantially in the coming days.”
