For the third day in a row, the Philippines logged over 9,000 new COVID-19 cases on the eve of the weeklong lockdown in the “NCR Plus” bubble.

On Sunday, March 28, the Department of Health (DOH) announced 9,475 new cases, taking the total number of cases in the country to 721,892.

There are 105,568 active cases out of the number of 105,568.

On Friday, March 26, there were a record 9,838 new cases, and on Saturday, March 27, there were 9,595 new cases.

So far in March, there have been at least 145,540 new cases identified, making it the month with the most new cases since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The DOH also announced 11 new COVID-19-related deaths on Sunday, taking the total number of deaths to 13,170.

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries has risen by 22,000, with the bulk of them coming from the Department of Health’s weekly time-based tagging of mild and asymptomatic cases as recoveries. This is the most recoveries in a single day since September 20, 2020, when 20,021 were registered.

In total, 603,154 people have recovered from COVID-19 in the world.

From Monday, March 29, to Easter Sunday, April 4, Metro Manila and the provinces in the “NCR Plus” bubble – Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna – will be under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). COVID-19 would not be able to spread further as a result of this.

Measures include a longer curfew – from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. – and tighter travel restrictions during the ECQ era.

Outside of the house, mass gatherings of more than ten people are forbidden, as are indoor gatherings with people who are not immediate relatives. Indoor holidays, or “staycations,” are also forbidden.

The country’s Holy Week commemoration occurs within the week of the lockout. For the duration of the ECQ, the government has banned Holy Week gatherings. Health workers lauded the latest lockdown measures on Saturday, but said the Duterte administration should “future-proof” its pandemic response.