MANILA - (UPDATE) The Philippines reported 258 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday bringing the country’s total to 14,035.

The Department of Health also reported 72 new recoveries, pushing the total number of Filipinos who recovered from the disease to 3,249.

Another 5 died from the illness, bringing COVID-19’s death toll in the Philippines to 868.

Of the total number of new cases, 195 were from the National Capital Region, which is on its final week of modified enhanced community quarantine.

This was also the 7th time in 8 days that there were less than 8 new deaths reported.

The DOH however has admitted that it is having difficulty validating the number of COVID-19 tests that turned out positive. Around 6,000 other individuals have tested positive for the virus, but the results have yet to be confirmed.

Since it first emerged in Wuhan, China in December last year, the new coronavirus has infected over 5.3 million around the world, and caused more than 342,000 deaths as of Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.