Philippines logs 3,176 new coronavirus infections as gov't expects rise in cases due to lab report submissions

MANILA — The Philippines logged 3,176 additional COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 245,143.

This as the Department of Health (DOH) said earlier in the day that the public should expect “ irregularly high number of cases in the coming days” due to laboratories trying to catch up with their delayed reports.

• ‘Irregularly high number’ of COVID cases expected this week as labs catch up on submission — DOH

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters that the DOH has required laboratories to submit complete addresses and phone numbers of new COVID-19 patients to ensure quick contact tracing by local government units.

Laboratories that are unable to fill out the mandatory fields in the DOH’s online submission system will not be able to file their test results.

Since Aug. 31, the number of additional COVID-19 cases had been below 4,000. It has even dipped to the 1,000 to 2,000 level. But on Monday, 27 laboratories failed to submit results, followed by 34 non-compliant laboratories on Tuesday although the new cases reported then rose to 3,281.

For Wednesday, the additional COVID-19 cases were based on test results of 105 out of 117 operational laboratories. More than 40% (1,327) are from the National Capital Region, the country's epicenter of the outbreak.

With 376 additional recovered patients and 70 new COVID-related deaths, there are now 55,614 active cases in the country. 

The total number of recoveries is 185,543, while the death toll climbed to 3,986.