GMA NEWS

The Philippines' tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases rose to 1,899,200 on Thursday with 16,313 new infections as five laboratories failed to submit data on time.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), this brought the country's active cases to 131,921, the highest since April 19.

Of this, 96.1% are mild, 1.1% are asymptomatic, 1.2% are severe, and 0.6% are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that total recoveries climbed to 1,734,551 after 9,659 more patients recovered from the illness.

Meanwhile, 236 new fatalities brought the death toll to 32,728.

A total of 201 duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count. These are all recoveries.

Moreover, 125 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation," the DOH said.

Based on reports on August 24, the Philippines was also able to test 65,903 individuals, of which 24.9% tested positive for the illness.

The DOH earlier said that new COVID-19 cases are expected to reach new peaks in the coming weeks. -MDM, GMA News