By Analou De Vera The number of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country exceeded 10,000 on Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH) said. The DOH reported 320 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 10,004. Out of the 320 new cases, the DOH said 179 individuals tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the National Capital Region, 98 in Central Visayas, and 43 in other regions. The DOH said 21 more people succumbed to the disease, raising the number of deaths to 658. Meanwhile, the total number of recovered patients has increased to 1,506, as the DOH said 98 more people have beaten COVID-19. On Tuesday (May 5), the Health department announced that the country had 9,684 confirmed cases, including 1,408 recoveries and 637 deaths. The World Health Organization said there are now 3,517,345 COVID-19 cases worldwide, while the death toll is at 243,401. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country is starting to experience a flattening of the COVID-19 curve. However, she reminded the public not to be complacent and always practice social distancing. “Hindi pa tapos ang ating laban. Maliban sa pagpapalakas ng ating national testing capacity, patuloy natin pagtutuunan ng pansin ang mga quarantine protocols, proper sanitation, physical distancing, paggamit ng mask, at iba pang preventive measures,” she said in a press briefing. (Our fight is not yet over. In addition to strengthening our national testing capacity, we will continue to focus on quarantine protocols, proper sanitation, physical distancing, mask use, and other preventive measures.) This was echoed by Dr. John Wong, an epidemiologist working with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. “We still cannot say that we've won the battle against COVID-19 until we have a vaccine. But at least for now, temporarily, we've been able to control the outbreak and buy time for the health system to increase its capacity,” he said. "Once ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) is relaxed and we are able to go out, we have to remember to protect ourselves by observing one-meter distance, washing our hands frequently, observing cough etiquette, and doing frequent cleaning,” he added. Meanwhile, Vergeire reminded parents to be vigilant if their children experienced symptoms of COVID-19. “To our mothers, you should be alert if your children have symptoms. We must easily identify symptoms so we can immediately have them checked,” she said. Children usually experience mild symptoms, said Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines President Dr. Anna Lisa Ong-Lim. Among the symptoms are mild cough, slight fever, sore throat, and diarrhea. “Based on these, we can say that it is really difficult to differentiate COVID-19 from other usual illnesses of children,” she added.