Philippines logs 20,310 new COVID-19 infections; active cases at 158k

The Philippines on Friday reported 20,310 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, the second highest daily infections reported since the pandemic.

On Monday, the country reported an all-time high of 22,366 cases.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), this brought the nationwide tally to 2,040,568 and active cases to 158,994, also the highest since April 17.

Of the active cases, 96.5% are mild, 1.1% are asymptomatic, 1% are severe, and 0.5% are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that total recoveries climbed to 1,847,701 after 7,710 more patients recovered from the illness.

Meanwhile, 193 new fatalities brought the death toll to 33,873.

The DOH said six laboratories failed to submit data on time.

A total of 226 duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count.

“Moreover, 84 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the DOH said.

Based on reports on August 31, the Philippines was also able to test 67,759 individuals, of which 27.4% tested positive for the illness.

The DOH earlier said that new COVID-19 cases could peak in the middle of September as it noted that the country has been seeing new peaks every week since cases started to “swiftly” increase in the fourth week of July.

Meanwhile, the country earlier approved the amendment in the Emergency Use Authorization of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to include its use on adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old. -MDM, GMA News