Philippines adds 738 new COVID-19 cases; total now 34,803

MANILA (UPDATE)--The Philippines on Saturday reported 738 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide total to 34,803.

Of the new infections, some 560 were classified as "fresh cases" and 178 as "late cases," the Department of Health (DOH) said in its latest bulletin.

Under the agency's new reporting system, fresh cases are those validated within the past 3 days, while late cases refer to test results that were released to patients 4 days ago or more.

Fresh cases spiked in Metro Manila with 212, followed by Central Visayas with 184. Some 164 others came from other regions.

"Today's fresh cases are based on the daily accomplishment reports submitted by only 49 out of 67 current operational labs," the agency said in a statement.

Meanwhile, of the 178 late cases, some 85 came from Metro Manila, 23 in Central Visayas and 70 in other regions.

The nationwide death toll went up to 1,236, with 12 new fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, the DOH said.

Meanwhile, the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 rose by 249 to 9,430, official figures showed.

The Philippines has logged more recoveries from the COVID-19 since its outbreak in January. Each day for the past 17 days, more than 210 people have survived the illness.

To date, the country has 23,667 active cases, of which 95 percent are exhibiting mild symptoms. Some 871 are asymptomatic, 123 are severe and 24 are critical.

Worldwide, the novel coronavirus, which began in Wuhan City in Hubei province, China, has sickened 9.8 million people and claimed more than 494,000 lives, a running tally from the US-based Johns Hopkins University showed.