MANILA (UPDATE) - The Philippines on Tuesday confirmed 8,560 new COVID-19 cases, raising the country's total to 1,676,156 since its first infection was announced in January last year.

According to the Department of Health's (DOH) latest bulletin, active cases stood at 79,016, or 4.7 percent of the cumulative total. Almost all or 94.4 percent are mild cases, while 1.7 percent are asymptomatic.

The remaining are either critical, severe or moderate cases.

"The number of active cases is the highest since April 24, 2021," ABS-CBN Data Analytics head Edson Guido said.

Positivity rate was at 21.9 percent, the DOH said. It is the "highest... since April 3, 2021," according to Guido.

Meanwhile, total recoveries climbed to 1,567,920 after the agency logged 7,964 patients who recently recuperated from the disease.

The country's COVID-19 death toll rose to 29,220, as 92 new fatalities were recorded.

"Seven cases previously tagged as recoveries have been validated to be active cases and 29 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation," the DOH said.

While all laboratories were operational last Sunday, 13 labs were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS), the agency said.

Utilization rate of ICU beds in Metro Manila is at 67 percent, while it is at 68 percent nationwide.

Isolation beds in the capital region are 59 percent used up, and 57 percent nationwide. Ward beds, meanwhile, are 55 percent utilized in Metro Manila, and 58 percent all over the country.

Several private companies have expressed intent to import more Pfizer vaccines for their workers' children, but Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said vaccination of minors in the Philippines would have to be shelved for now due to the lack of COVID-19 vaccine supplies.

"Nanatili ang recommendation ng DOH na bigyan prayoridad pa rin ang pagbabakuna ng mga adults base sa atin pong prioritization framework," he said.

(The DOH maintains its recommendation to still prioritize the vaccination of adults based on our prioritization framework.)

• Private firms want to import Pfizer vaccines for children: presidential adviser
• Vaccination of minors vs COVID-19 better shelved for now, says Duque

As of August 9, the Philippines has fully vaccinated 11.6 million people against COVID-19, and has also administered 12.3 million first doses of different vaccine brands.

Metro Manila and a few other provinces in the country have been placed on a two-week enhanced community quarantine to arrest the spread of COVID-19 amid the threat from the more transmissible Delta variant.

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