Philippines logs 1,540 new COVID-19 infections; total at 47,873

The Philippines on Tuesday logged 1,540 more coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, of which 993 are "fresh" or newly validated and 547 are late, bringing the total to 47,873

The DOH also announced that total recoveries rose to 12,386 after 201 more patients have recovered from the illness while the death toll increased to 1,309 with six new ones.

On Monday, the country became the second in Southeast Asia with the highest number of COVID-19 cases, overtaking Singapore with 44,983 infections and trailing behind Indonesia with 64,958. 

Among the fresh cases, 428 are from the National Capital Region, 109 are from Region VII, and 456 are from other areas across the country.

Among the late cases, 191 are from the National Capital Region, 65 are from Region VII, 291 are from other areas across the country.

There are also 34,178 active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine.

In a live briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire denied that the country was experiencing a second wave of the virus.

"We are not experiencing a second wave, but an increase in the number of positive cases due to an increase in testing and because there is community transmission because of the lack of implementation with minimum health standards," Vergeire said.

"The increase has been gradual and our health system is able to cope with the increasing number of cases," she added.

According to Vergeire, the country's case doubling time is still at 7.9 days.

"This means that it takes more than a week for the number of cases to double and  we have enough resources to address the current needs," she said.

Meanwhile, Vergeire said that there was no particular profile of patients in the new cases.

"The recent increase is due to observed clustering in barangays in the National Capital Region and in Cebu and in work places in the National Capital Region," she said.—LDF, GMA News