MANILA, Philippines — The country now has more than 197,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as the Department of Health reported 2,965 additional infections Tuesday.
The additional cases, based on the results of 86 out of 106 operational laboratories, were mostly from Metro Manila (1,575). It was followed by Negros Occidental (237), Laguna (151), Cavite (129) and Batangas (95).
This brought the country’s caseload to 197,164, of which 61,730 were considered active cases.
The number of COVID-19 survivors increased by 368 to 132,396. Total recoveries accounted for around 67% of the nation’s total case count.
But 34 more fatalities were reported, pushing the death toll to 3,038. The deaths were mostly from Metro Manila (22).
The department said it had removed 53 cases from the case tally.
A total of 2,207,267 people have been so far tested in the country.
Professor Guido David of the UP OCTA Research Team said in an interview with Teleradyo Monday that the Philippines is likely to see a flattening of the coronavirus curve by the end of the month or September. But he stressed that flattening of the curve does not mean the pandemic is over as he urged the public and authorities to remain on guard.
Coronavirus infections soared past 23.5 million globally with at least 811,000 deaths.