MANILA — The supply of paracetamol, which can be used to treat mild COVID-19 symptoms, is expected to normalize after drugstores topped up their inventory, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Monday.

Major pharmacies started replenishing their inventories of paracetamol and other over-the-counter drugs last Jan. 5, said Trade Assistant Secretary Ann Claire Cabochan.

“We were anticipating na over the weekend ay mag-normalize na yong situation kasi makakadating na ng distribution channels, iyong mga major drugstores po natin,” she said in a televised public briefing.

(We were anticipating that over the weekend, the situation would normalize because the drug would reach distribution channels, our major drugstores.)

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“Overwhelming demand” for these drugs around the end of December led to a “temporary stockout” in some pharmacies, said Cabochan, head of DTI’s Consumer Protection Group.

“It is actually a problem of stockout. Hindi po siya (it is not a) supply problem,” she said, adding that one local manufacturer can produce nearly 60 million tablets in a month.

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"Now that replenishment has been made and there is more than enough supply, we can say that manufacturers will continue to produce, as they have in the past,” added the official.

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The Philippines reported a record number of 28,707 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the country's total to 2,965,447, the health department said.

Of the 128,114 active cases, 119,276 are mild and 4,213 are asymptomatic. The rest are critical (309), severe (1,465), and moderate (2,851).

Another 15 people died from COVID-19, the agency added, bringing the total death toll to 52,150.

— With a report from Reuters