Hours after the Inter-Agency Task Force made its formal recommendation to ease the community quarantine protocols in Metro Manila, the Department of Health said the country posted its highest single-day record of new cases at 539 Thursday.
The DOH's disclosure came ahead of a scheduled address to the nation of President Rodrigo Duterte Thursday night to announce the possible shift from Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine to General Enhanced Community Quarantine for Metro Manila.
Thursday's record surpassed the 538 cases on March 31.
Of the total number of new cases, the National Capital Region accounted for 61 percent or 330 cases.
On Tuesday, the country recorded 350 new cases. The figure went up to 380 on Wednesday.
The DOH attributed the sudden spike in the number of new cases to the results from the swab tests on repatriated overseas Filipino workers, calling it an “artificial rise.”
However, repatriated OFWs only accounted for about 10 percent or 55 cases out of Thursday's total number.