MANILA (UPDATED) - New coronavirus disease or COVID-19 recoveries in the Philippines reached another record-high, with 58 new recoveries announced Wednesday.

This brings the number of COVID-19 recoveries in the country to 353, the Department of Health (DOH) said in its update.

“Kasama po sa mga naitalang naka-recover ay ang mga pasyenteng na-confine, at mga pasyenteng may mga positive mild and asymptomatic cases na naka-recover mula sa kanilang self-isolation at home quarantine,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a televised briefing.

(Included in the list of recoveries are patients who were confined and patients who are asymptomatic or had mild symptoms who recovered from their self-isolation and home quarantine.)

The health department also announced 230 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, with the cumulative total number of cases now at 5,453.

Of that number, there were 14 new fatalities or a total of 349 deaths.

This is the first time since March 10 that the total number of recoveries was higher than the total number of deaths.

It was only on Tuesday that the DOH said it has started including in its recovery count patients who underwent home quarantine and self-isolation. Before this week, the health department had only been counting those discharged by hospitals.

The agency has struggled in the past to consolidate data as it has been relying on paper forms with incomplete information from hospitals. Starting this week, it has required hospitals to submit data online.

• READ: No more detailed reports about COVID-19 cases in PH? DOH explains why

As of Wednesday, there have been 1.98 million cumulative COVID-19 cases from 185 countries since the pandemic started, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard. Of that number, more than 480,000 have recovered while more than 126,000 died.

The Philippines now has the most number of cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. It is only second to Indonesia in terms of the number of fatalities. It is also lagging other countries when it comes to reported recoveries. Experts say this may soon change with more updated data.

• READ: PH tops ASEAN countries with most number of COVID-19 cases; possible underreported recoveries: data experts