MANILA - (UPDATE) The Philippines reported 184 new cases of COVID-19, pushing the country's total number of cases to 10,794.

The Department of Health also reported 82 new recoveries, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,924.

There were also 15 new deaths due to the disease. The Philippines' death toll from COVID-19 is now at 719.

This was the third straight day that the DOH reported less than 200 new cases. The 82 reported recoveries, meanwhile are lowest in more than a week.

Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said there are indications that the country is "flattening the curve" of COVID-19 infections.

Vergeire said in the past weeks, it has taken longer for the number of confirmed cases to double. From 2 to 3 days, it now took 5 days, or even 7 days in some areas, for new COVID-19 cases to double, Vergeire said.

"So ito ay naging magandang indikasyon sa atin at nakakapagsabi na ngayon ang ating mga eksperto na nag-uumpisa na tayong makapag flatten ng curve," Vergeire said in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo.

(So this is a good indication for us and our experts can now say that we are starting to flatten the curve.)

The Health official however also said that the "case doubling time" is not the sole basis for deciding on whether to lift the lockdown or switch to general quarantine.

She said authorities also need to look at the capacity of health systems such as the number of ICU beds, ventilators, and ability to do contact-tracing, among others.

More than 4 million people around the world have been infected by the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, since it was first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The virus has killed more than 279 thousand as of Sunday.