Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 8) — Over 22,000 people in the country have been infected with the coronavirus disease, the Department of Health confirmed on Monday.
The national tally of infections rose to 22,474, after the DOH announced that 579 more people have caught the virus.
The agency classified 331 of the new cases as “fresh,” which means the test results were released to the patient within the last three days, while the other 248 as “late” cases, as they were part of the validation backlogs.
Recoveries meanwhile climbed to 4,637, with 107 more survivors.
However, eight have also been added to the death toll, which is now at 1,011.
Central Visayas registered the most number of fresh cases with 156, followed by Metro Manila with 114.
Including late cases, Central Visayas logged a total of 161 new infections, while Metro Manila had 220. Other regions across the country recorded a cumulative number of 166, and the remaining 32 are returning overseas Filipino workers.
Among Filipinos abroad, the number of COVID-19 cases went up to 5,405, after the Department of Foreign Affairs reported 13 new infections.
It added that one more died, bringing fatalities to 371, while recoveries remain at 2,231.
Worldwide, more than seven million people have already been hit by the virus, with nearly 403,000 deaths and over 3.1 million recoveries.
The fresh cases reported by DOH in its Monday bulletin are based on reports submitted by only 27 out of 43 currently operational COVID-19 testing laboratories, the agency said.
While all but one accredited laboratories in the country have already submitted their complete line lists, the DOH explained that they continue to report late cases because some of these facilities are not able to submit their daily accomplishment reports on time.
The agency earlier announced that starting June 1, no more late cases will be reported until all laboratories submit their complete line lists, which contain test results conducted since the beginning of operations.
Health spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a DOH briefing that the department continues to provide laboratories with technical assistance in order to expedite the process of reporting.
