Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa who has tested positive for the coronavirus has been hospitalized for more than a week now and is since recovering, his staff said Thursday. 

President Rodrigo Duterte will join a special session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the pandemic and is expected to stress the need to ensure that developing countries will have access to anti-COVID-19 products and technologies.

The Duterte administration  is now bracing for a historic economic meltdown this year as the country remains on lockdown.

The tourism department on Thursday announced that it is partly subsidizing the cost of coronavirus tests to Filipino tourists bound for Boracay, as government looked to revive the sector that suffered as a result of the pandemic. 

"Healthcare workers are also victims of this economic crisis we are all experiencing. Yet they do their job despite the risks and save millions of lives everyday. Our minimum but important duty is to at least pay them right and on time," Hontiveros said.