PH records 2,630 additional cases of COVID-19, total at 299,361

MANILA— There are currently 299,361 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines after the Department of Health recorded an additional 2,630 cases on Friday.

This is the fourth day in a row that the daily count is below 3,000.

Topping the list of areas with additional cases is the National Capital Region with 1,091 cases. Of the newly announced cases, the majority or 88% are from the past 2 weeks.

DOH also recorded an additional 494 recovered patients or a total of 232,399 recoveries.

Of the 69 additional deaths related to the coronavirus, 43 occurred in September. Total kills now stands at 5,196.

This brings the total number of active cases or current infections to 61,766.

Only 3 laboratories did not submit their data on time.

The Undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, said this Monday that the delay in shipments from the laboratories no longer affects the daily count, since most are already complying with their requirements.

It is not yet clear why the daily count of additional cases is lower than the previous weeks, which generally range between 3,000 and 4,000 per day. But for the 1,633 cases Tuesday, the DOH said it could be due to the low number of tests performed over the weekend, especially since more than a third of labs are not operating on Sundays. He also cited delay in processing or reporting from labs.

The DOH said earlier this week that they are still studying whether the current number of cases is an accurate reflection of the current COVID-19 situation in the country.

The UP OCTA Research Group previously estimated that the Philippines would have a total of 310,000 to 330,000 COVID-19 cases by the end of September.