Philippines' COVID-19 tally hits 304,226 with 5,344 deaths

MANILA - (UPDATE)The Philippines confirmed 2,995 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday bringing the country’s total to 304,226.

The Department of Health also reported 19,630 new recoveries as the DOH implemented its weekly “mass recovery” pushing the total number of Filipinos who recovered from the disease to 252,510.

This meant that the country has a total of 46,372 active cases as of 4 p.m. Sunday.

Sixty more deaths were reported from the illness, bringing COVID-19’s death toll in the Philippines to 5,344. 

The DOH said 86 percent of the cases were mild, while 8.8 percent were asymptomatic, 1.6 percent were severe, and 3.7 percent were critical. 

The National Capital Region had the most number of new cases at 1,065. Cavite was next with 297 new infections, followed by Bulacan with 180, Batangas with 157, and Laguna with 143. 

Six labs however were not able to submit any data on Saturday. 

The Philippines has the highest number of total cases in Southeast Asia despite implementing the longest and strictest lockdown in the region. 

The government has said that it aims to flatten the COVID-19 curve by end of September, or 7 months after the first infection was reported in the Philippines.

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

Worldwide, the pandemic has killed over 994,000 people since it first emerged in China in late 2019. More than 32.8 million have also been infected. 

With over 7 million infections, the United States has been the single most affected country in the world. It has suffered over 204,000 deaths--the most of any country.