Philippines' coronavirus infections top 12,000, deaths pass 800 mark, typhoon dampens relief work

Public works employees clear a highway of fallen trees in Oras town, Eastern Samar province on Friday (May 15), a day after Typhoon Vongfong hit the town. Typhoon Vongfong has dumped heavy rains and torn off roofs since it roared ashore on central Samar island on May 14, with hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in its path on the coast or in flimsy homes. - AFP

MANILA: he number of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) cases in the Philippines' has passed the 12,000 mark, and more than 800 people have now died, the Health Ministry said on Friday (May 15).

In a bulletin, the ministry reported 16 more coronavirus deaths, bringing the total to 806.