Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 1) — The Philippines’ COVID-19 case count reached 314,079, after it climbed by 2,415 on Thursday, the Department of Health announced.
The department also confirmed another 771 recoveries, raising the tally of survivors to 254,223.
However, 59 more patients succumbed to the disease, bringing the death toll to 5,562. Among the newly announced fatalities, 37 died in September, while the other 22 in April to August.
The latest figures bring the number of active cases or currently ill patients to 54,294, or 17 percent of the national case tally.
The DOH said seven COVID-19 testing laboratories have not been able to submit their data on time. It added that 30 duplicates were removed from the total case count as part of its constant data cleaning process, including 19 recoveries and a death.
Seventeen cases previously reported as recoveries have also been reclassified as deaths after final validation.
Iloilo City is on its first day back to the more lenient general community quarantine, less than a week after upgrading its quarantine status due to an upsurge in cases. Meanwhile, Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, has shifted to the more restrictive MECQ, which is set to last until end-October. Under this quarantinestatus, public transportation is not allowed and more industries are not permitted to operate.
Metro Manila, Batangas, Tacloban City, Bacolod City, and Iligan City will be under GCQ until Oct. 31, while the rest of the country will be under the more relaxed modified GCQ.
The national capital region along with its neighboring provinces continued to contribute the most to the daily rise in cases, the latest report showed. Metro Manila logged an additional 930 infections, while Cavite had 238, Rizal had 128, and Laguna had 123. Meanwhile, Negros Occidental in Western Visayas registered 103 more cases.
Abroad, five more Filipinos contracted the coronavirus for a total of 10,539 infected, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Eighteen more overseas Filipinos also recovered, while another one died from the disease, pushing the figures to 6,745 recoveries and 793 fatalities.
COVID-19 cases across the globe are nearing 34 million, with over one million deaths and 23.6 million recoveries, based on data from the US-based Johns Hopkins University.
