MANILA – The Philippines confirmed 285 new cases of novel coronavirus infection raising the country's total to 7,579, the Department of Health said on Sunday.

The DOH also reported 70 more recoveries, bringing the total to 862. The death toll meanwhile climbed by 7 to 501.

The University of the Philippines Resilience Institute has said that the enhanced community quarantine imposed over Luzon and other parts of the country has been effective in slowing down the spread of COVID-19.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday extended to May 15 the lockdown imposed over Metro Manila and other parts of the country to further slow down the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Over 2.8 million people around the world have been infected with COVID-19, which has also killed over 203,000 as of Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.

The World Health Organization there is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.