MANILA - The Philippines 3,520 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 3,938,203.

This also brought the number of active cases to 35,399 which is the highest since August 20.

The Department of Health also reported 31 new deaths pushing the toll from the disease to 62,790.

The positivity rate for the week of September 18 to 24 is at 15.3 percent, higher than the 13.3 percent recorded the previous week, according to ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team chief Edson Guido.

Of the new confirmed cases, 1,600 were from Metro Manila.

This is the highest single-day tally in the region in nearly eight months or since February 2, Guido said.

However, bed occupancy was at 25.8 percent, which meant that the country remained at low risk based on the DOH criteria.

At least 72.9 million people in the country have been fully vaccinated against the respiratory disease, of whom 18.9 million have received their booster shots.

The World Health Organization said that the number of newly reported COVID-19 cases globally has dropped dramatically, urging the world to seize the opportunity to end the pandemic.

Newly reported cases of the disease, which has killed millions since being identified in late 2019, last week fell to the lowest level since March 2020, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The Philippines’ first COVID-19 case was a 38-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, China.

The first COVID-19 death outside of China, was also recorded in the Philippines in 2020.