The Philippines has introduced a more aggressive testing programme for the coronavirus to locate what it said could be as many as 15,000 unknown infections, despite having implemented some of Asia’s strictest and earliest lockdown measures.

Authorities have targeted several phases of ramped-up testing, starting today with 8,000 people working at or admitted to Manila hospitals that were treating patients of Covid-19, a disease that so far infected 5,223 people locally and killed 335.

The former military chief in charge of the national coronavirus task force said that modelling suggested 75 per cent of infections — or 15,000 people — had yet to be detected.

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