MANILA (UPDATE) - The Philippines on Saturday reported 1,494 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, raising the nationwide total to 41,830.

The number of new coronavirus cases is the country's second-highest spike since it tallied its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 30.

Of the new infections, some 403 were classified as "fresh cases" and 1,091 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 earlier.

Metro Manila had 180 fresh cases, followed by Central Visayas with 90, while 33 others came from other regions.

"Today's fresh cases are based on the daily accomplishment reports submitted by only 60 out of 73 current operational labs," the DOH said in a statement.

Meanwhile, of the 1,091 late cases, 499 came from Metro Manila, 146 in Central Visayas and 434 in other regions. Twelve others were repatriated overseas Filipinos.

The number of people who recovered from coronavirus infection rose by 380 to 11,453, latest figures showed, marking the second-highest recoveries reported in a day.

The health ministry also reported 10 new fatalities from the contagious disease, bringing the death toll to 1,290.

To date, the country has 27,983 active cases, of which nearly 95 percent are exhibiting mild symptoms. Some 1,291 patients are asymptomatic, 136 have severe conditions, and 28 are considered critical.

Worldwide, the novel coronavirus, which was first detected in Wuhan City in China's Hubei province, has sickened 11 million people and claimed more than 525,000 lives, a running tally from the US-based Johns Hopkins University showed. - With a report from ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team