By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Philippines health officials  report in an update today that the COVID-19 case count has risen to 3246, including 152 deaths.

Of the total confirmed cases across the country, more than half are reported from from the National Capital Region (NCR).

The Department of Health announced twelve Chinese medical experts arrived in Manila today to share their learnings in handling COVID-19 cases with  Filipino medical professionals.

“They have a lot of good practices when they managed their COVID-19 patients in Wuhan and Hubei,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, referring to the Chinese medical experts who had firsthand experience in the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

However, Duque clarified that their tasks will be purely advisory. “It is really guiding how to improve, level-up our COVID-19 response, learn different levels of surveillance, risk-assessment, isolation strategies, detection through accurate testing, clinical case management, and non-pharmaceutical public health measures,” he added.Outbreak News Merchandise

The Chinese medical experts, together with DOH staff, are scheduled to visit RITM, the Lung Center of the Philippines, San Lazaro Hospital and quarantine facilities to train Filipino medical professionals. They will be here for 15 days or until April 19.

The Chinese experts also brought with them  5,000 PPEs, 300,000 surgical masks, 30,000 medical N95 masks, 5,000 medical protective face shields and 30 non-invasive ventilators from the Chinese Government.