Philippines logs 8,571 new COVID-19 cases, active cases at 165,534

MANILA, Philippines — (Updated 4:17 p.m.) The Philippines on Tuesday recorded 8,571 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 884,783. 

• Active cases: 165,534 or 18.7% of the total
• Recoveries: 400, pushing total to 703,963 or 79.6% of total
• Deaths: 137, bringing total to 15,286

According to the Department of Health, a number of laboratories failed to submit data in its latest tally, causing the relatively lower case numbers.

This was also due to 36 laboratories that did not conduct testing operations on Sunday, the DOH said. 

What's new today?

• On Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte broke his two-week absence from the public eye to explain that his disappearance was intentional and not due to any health-related reasons. The president mentioned that he is free to go to Davao City, being a resident of that city, but his spokesperson Harry Roque claimed he was at the Palace the entire time. 
   
• New trial results of a study from the United Kingdom and funded by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre and drugmaker AstraZeneca found that asthma drug budesonide can speed up the recovery of coronavirus patients on home quarantine exhibiting mild symptoms.
   
• The country's vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said that the government is expecting around 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute in the coming months. He added that negotiations to procure Sputnik V vaccine doses are still ongoing and the supply agreement will be signed this week.
   
• Globally, 137.2 million cases of the pathogen have been recorded, leading to 2.9 million deaths around the world. 
   
• It has been 392 days since the Philippines hoisted its first enhanced community quarantine. The country is still under the world's longest lockdown. 

— with reports from Gaea Katreena Cabico and Xave Gregorio 

Related Stories

LIVE updates: COVID-19 in the Philippines 2021

A guide to home care for asymptomatic, mild COVID-19 patients