20,741 new COVID-19 infections push active cases to over 157k

The Philippines on Saturday reported 20,741 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, marking the second consecutive day where more than 20,000 cases were recorded, as five laboratories submitted data on time.

This is the second highest daily cases recorded since the pandemic, beating the 20,310 new infections recorded on Friday.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), this brought the nationwide tally to 2,061,084 while active cases slightly decreased to 157,646.

Of the active cases, 94.7% are mild, 1.9% are asymptomatic, 1.2% are severe, and 0.6% are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that total recoveries climbed to 1,869,376 after 21,962 more patients recovered from the illness, the highest since April 24.

Meanwhile, 189 new fatalities brought the death toll to 34,062.

A total of 225 duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count.

“Moreover, 81 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the DOH said.

Based on reports on September 2, the Philippines was also able to test 74,034 individuals, of which 28% tested positive for the illness.

The Philippines on Friday approved the amendment in the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to include its use on adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old.

However, the DOH earlier said that the agency and experts have yet to issue a recommendation to have children vaccinated against COVID-19 even with the EUA. -MDM, GMA News