MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday reported 1,987 additional COVID-19 cases, the lowest since July 29, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 228,403.
It is the 2nd straight day that the number of additional cases were lower than the usual, although Thursday’s data is only from 91 out of 113 operating laboratories.
For the first time in quite a while, less than half of the additional cases are from the National Capital Region (818).
According to ABS-CBN Data Analytics, it is also the first time since July 29 that cases from NCR were less than 1,000.
Top provinces with new COVID-19 cases are Cavite (153), Laguna (125), Negros Occidental (122), and Rizal (78). The DOH earlier said the increase in COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental were attributed to stranded individuals who returned to their home province.
NCR and nearby provinces remain among the top sources of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Of the 1,987 additional cases, majority or 82% occurred in the last 2 weeks.
With 880 additional recovered patients and 65 additional coronavirus-related deaths, there are now 65,240 active cases or individuals still infected in the country.
The total number of recoveries is 159,475, while the total number of fatalities is 3,688.
Of the 65 deaths, 2 happened in September, 55 in August, 6 in July, and 1 each in June and April. More than half of the fatal cases were from NCR.
The DOH also removed 24 duplicate cases from the previous tally, including 12 tagged as recovered.
“There were three (3) cases that were previously reported as recovered but after final validation, they were deaths,” the DOH added.
The Philippines has been logging record-high numbers in terms of new COVID-19 cases since late July, following the easing of quarantine measures and the gradual reopening of the economy.
The UP OCTA Research group estimates 330,000 to 375,000 cases by the end of September, although it said that the epidemic curve has already started to flatten.
Meanwhile, the UP COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team estimates 402,821 to 767,611 cases, or an average of 585,216 cases, by the end of the year.
Some 26 million people have been infected by COVID-19 since the pandemic started, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard. Of those, 863,000 have died and almost 17.3 million have recovered.
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