By Minka Klaudia Tiangco The Manila City government attributed the jump in the number of reported COVID-19 cases to their increased mass testing capacity and contact tracing operations. Data from the city government showed that as of Monday afternoon (April 27), there are now 644 confirmed and 1,009 suspect COVID-19 cases in the Philippine capital. There were also 60 deaths and 89 recoveries in the city. The Manila Public Information Office (PIO) said this development was "expected" due to their "intensive" efforts to contain the disease, particularly in Sampaloc district that was recently placed under a 48-hour hard lockdown. Workers from the the Manila Health Department and the six district hospitals in the city have been continuously performing swab tests on residents since the city government announced they would begin conducting localized mass testing on April 13, the Manila PIO said. Since then, 2,685 swab tests have been conducted by the city's health workers as of Monday afternoon, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso said in his city address. The local chief executive also announced recently that the city government partnered with private organizations to conduct rapid testing in Manila to augment their mass testing efforts.