MANILA — Santa Cruz town in Marinduque needs more confirmatory swab tests, COVID-19 vaccines, and contact tracers as cases rise, its mayor said Thursday.
The town was allotted only 20 RT-PCR tests daily, which are sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa, according to Mayor Antonio Uy. The town then receives results in 3 to 4 days, he added.
Santa Cruz is experiencing a “sharp increase or upward trend” in its cases after reporting a record-high of 56 cases this month, according to the mayor.
Its COVID-related deaths also increased to 25 from 8 last year, he said, adding that Marinduque has no crematorium.
On the same day, the Philippines tallied 12,021 more COVID-19 cases, the highest in more than 4 months, bringing its total to 1,688,040 infections.
Of this figure, 81,399 or 4.8 percent were active, according to the Department of Health.
This story was first published on ABS-CBN News