MANILA, Philippines — The country’s coronavirus caseload rose to 241,987 Tuesday after the Department of Health reported 3,281 new confirmed infections.
This was significantly higher than the 1,383 additional cases logged Monday—the lowest daily rise since mid-July.
The cases reported on Tuesday were based on the data submitted by only 81 out of 115 testing laboratories.
Majority of the newly-reported cases were still found in Metro Manila (1,420). It was followed by Cavite (263), Negros Occidenal (204), Laguna (197) and Rizal (196).
The DOH said that of the total case count, 52,893 or around 22% were active infections.
The country experienced a surge in infections over the last month following the further easing of quarantine measures. But a decline in the number of new cases has been seen in the past days.
Experts studying the coronavirus outbreak in the Philippines said over the weekend the pandemic curve for outbreak epicenter Metro Manila has flattened following the decrease of the reproduction rate, which represents the number of people who may be infected by a confirmed case. But the public is warned that the trend can be reversed any time and is urged to continuously practice health protocols.
A total of 185,178 people are now considered recovered in the country after 286 recoveries were recorded.
But 26 more people were added to the death toll, which stood at 3,916. Most of the newly-reported fatalities were from Metro Manila.
The department noted that 27 duplicates were removed from the case tally as part of its cleaning and validation process.
The government has so far tested 2.686 million people in the country.
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 891,000 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December. More than 27.25 million cases have been registered.