MANILA — The Philippines on Thursday reported 5,290 new coronavirus infections, the second highest daily tally this year, bringing the country's total number of cases to 640,984.

The additional cases is the 5th highest daily tally since the start of the pandemic, according to the ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team.

• READ: Public told to be vigilant as COVID-19 cases rising 'faster than before'

Eight laboratories failed to submit their results on time, the Department of Health said.

Active cases stood at 66,567 or 10.4% of the cumulative total cases, the highest in 6 months or since September 19 last year.

For the last 7 days, new cases have been more than 4,000. Analysts have attributed this to the surge in cases in Metro Manila and nearby provinces like Bulacan and those in Calabarzon, due to increased mobility of people, non-compliance with health protocols, and the presence of more transmissible COVID-19 variants.

There are 21 new COVID-19 related deaths reported, raising the total fatalities to 12,887, which accounts for 2.01 percent of the cumulative total cases.

Total recoveries went up by 439 to 561,530.

Of those currently battling the disease, 93.3% have mild symptoms, 3.7% are asymptomatic, 1.2% are in critical condition, 1.2% have severe symptoms, and 0.64% have moderate symptoms.

Meanwhile, 4 cases, 2 tagged as recovered, were removed from the official tally for being duplicate entries.

There were also 6 recovered cases that turned out to be deaths.

The OCTA Group on Wednesday said that the increase of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila was a “serious surge.” But while many parts of the region and other provinces continue to record an increase in cases, there were also areas that had a slowing down of the spread of infection.

The group said its projections may be lower if localized lockdowns and other measures work.

• READ: Metro Manila seeing 'serious surge' in COVID-19 cases: OCTA Group

The Philippines is currently rolling out its COVID-19 vaccines to health workers. As of March 17, more than 240,000 health workers have been vaccinated.

• READ: Nearly 241,000 out of 1.7 million health workers vaccinated against COVID-19: official

There are 49.8 million people currently infected with COVID-19 worldwide. Since the start of the pandemic, 121.2 million people have contracted the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard. Of those, almost 2.7 million have died and more than 68.7 million have recovered.

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