Philippines logs 1,987 new COVID-19 cases, lowest since July

The Philippines’ tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases leapt to 228,403 on Thursday after the Department of Health (DOH) announced 1,987 new infections, the lowest since July 29.

The bulk of the newly reported cases was still logged in Metro Manila at 818, followed by Cavite with 153 new infections, Laguna with 125, Negros Occidental with 122, and Rizal with 78.

Eighty-two percent or 1,627 of the newest cases caught COVID-19 in the past 14 days.

Meanwhile, total recoveries rose to 159,475 after 880 more patients recovered from the respiratory illness.

The death toll also climbed to 3,688 with 65 new fatalities, two of whom died in September, 55 in August, six in July, one in June, and one in April.

The remaining 65,240 are active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine, 90.8 percent of which are mild, 6.7 percent are asymptomatic, 1 percent are severe, and 1.4 percent are in critical condition.

As of September 2, the Philippines had 114 licensed laboratories that had tested over 2.5 million individuals while 50 percent of COVID-19 intensive care unit beds nationwide were occupied and 28 percent of mechanical ventilators were in use.

Experts from the University of the Philippines earlier said that the Philippines may flatten its curve of infections in September after they observed a decrease in cases, but warned that the trend could still be reversed. -LDF, GMA News