Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 19) — The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, the country’s leading COVID-19 testing center, is scaling down operations as it implements safety measures to protect its workers, the Health Department said on Sunday.
It was not clear what the safety measures were, but Health Department spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said they would not completely halt RITM’s operations, though the slowdown may impact the tallying of COVID-19 cases in the coming days.
“Ang operasyon po ng RITM ay kasulukuyang naka-scale down upang bigyang daan ang ilang safety measures para masiguro ang kaligtasan ng ating mga healthcare workers. Maari po itong makaapekto sa pagtatala natin ng number of cases sa mga susunod na araw,” Vergeire said.
[Translation: RITM’s operations are currently scaled down to give way to certain safety measures to ensure the safety of our healthcare workers. This might affect our tallying of cases in the coming days.]
The death toll due to COVID-19 has reached 409 with 12 new fatalities, as 172 new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the total number of those who have been infected to 6,259.
The Health Department also reported 56 new recoveries, bringing the total of those who survived the viral disease to 572.
CNN Philippines’ Xave Gregorio contributed to this report.
