Philippines logs 3,073 add'l COVID-19 cases; total climbs to 307,288

MANILA — There are now 307,288 total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, nearly 8 months since the country's first infection was recorded, after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,073 additional cases on Monday.

The active cases stood at 49,242.

Of the additional cases, 1,158 are from the National Capital Region, the epicenter of the outbreak. Provinces with the most number of additional cases are Cavite with 225, Laguna with 203, Rizal with 173, and Batangas with 169.

Majority or 2,800 of the newly-announced cases occurred in the last 2 weeks.

The DOH also reported 163 additional recovered patients, and 37 new COVID-related deaths, of which, 26 occurred this month. Twenty-one of those were from Region 7.

Total recoveries climbed to 252,665, while the death toll is 5,381.

The agency said the following testing laboratories failed to submit their data for the latest count:

1. Amosup Seamen's Hospital
2. Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital
3. Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center
4. Green City Medical Center
5. National Kidney and Transplant Institute – GeneXpert Laboratory
6. Western Visayas Medical Center

The DOH said 11 duplicate cases, 6 tagged as recovered, were removed from the official tally.

There were also 2 recovered cases that were reclassified as deaths after final validation, it added.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday morning said that while they have observed a seeming decrease in cases, they are still seeing clusters in some areas.

• READ: Philippines' coronavirus infections declining; COVID-19 clusters still observed - DOH

As of Sept. 27, there are 2,075 COVID-19 clusters in the country, 27% of which are in the NCR, 20% in Region 4A, 10% in Region 7, and 9% in Region 3. Majority or 84% of the total clusters are in communities.

Vergeire said this is why the Filipinos should not be complacent and remain vigilant.

The DOH said that hospitals will need to continue expanding allocation for COVID-19 cases in case of any eventuality.

The Philippines logged its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Jan. 30 in a Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan City, China where the disease is believed to have first emerged late last year.

Her male companion was the country's second case who succumbed to the disease on Feb. 1, the first coronavirus-related fatality in the country and outside of China.

There are now 33 million people who have been infected by the COVID-19 virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard. Almost 23 milion of them have recovered, but the number of those who died is nearing 1 million.