Philippines logs 8,355 new COVID-19 cases, total now over 800K

The Philippines on Monday registered 8,355 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total tally to 803,398, as three laboratories failed to submit data on time.

The Department of Health said the new cases brought the number of active cases in the country to 143,726.

Of this, 97.5% are mild, 1.1% are asymptomatic, 0.5% are critical, and 0.6% are in severe condition.

Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries also rose to 646,237 after 145 more patients defeated the respiratory illness.

The death toll climbed to 13,435 with 10 new fatalities.

The DOH noted that eight duplicates were removed from the total case count, while four cases previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

The DOH also said the low number of infections was due to the reduced laboratory operations over the Holy Week.

“Out of the 239 licensed laboratories, only 219 laboratories conducted tests on April 1, 207 conducted tests on April 2, and 216 conducted tests on April 3,” the DOH said.

Earlier in the day, the OCTA Research group said the Philippines is projected to have over one million COVID-19 cases before the end of April as the country continues to grapple with a surge in infections.

The independent team of experts said while COVID-19 transmission has slowed in Metro Manila due to tightened restrictions, infections still grew by 20% with 5,538 daily new cases over the past week.

Over the weekend, the government announced that the enhanced community quarantine over Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal would be by a week to April 11.—LDF, GMA News