THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 778 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 33,069.

The death toll rose to 1,212 after eight more patients died, while recoveries rose by 255 to 8,910, it said in a bulletin.

The government aims to reach one million COVID-19 tests by next month, as it boosts its testing capacity, Vivencio B. Dizon, deputy chief enforcer of the country’s anti-coronavirus measures, told a news briefing on Thursday.

The government seeks to test 10% of the country’s highly dense areas and 2% of the entire country, he said.

“We will push for more testing until it reaches our target of 10% to 12% of highly/densely populated areas.” Mr. Dizon said. These include Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Cebu and Davao.

Mr. Dizon said they expect to test more than 2% of the population in the next few months.

Almost 23,000 tests have been conducted as of June 22, Monday. Daily testing capacity has reached 50,000. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Gillian M. Cortez

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