THE DEPARTMENT of Health on Monday ruled out any delays in reporting coronavirus deaths in the country, saying the backlog had been limited to the number of infections.

“We have not been delayed in reporting deaths,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire told DZBB radio.

The agency has reported a spike in new cases, with the record daily increase hitting 1,046 on May 29.

The report included “fresh cases” or test results released in the past three days, and “late cases” or results released four days ago or more.

Ms. Vergeire traced the recent increase to reinforced validation capacity through automated recording of cases using an app. There is a backlog of about 6,800 cases for validation, she said.

The agency on Sunday reported 862 new cases, bringing the total to 18,086. Of the new cases, 16 were fresh while 846 were late.

The death toll rose to 957 after seven more patients died, it said in a bulletin. One hundred one more patients have gotten well, bringing the total recoveries to 3,909. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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