By JOAHNA LEI CASILAO, GMA News

The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country rose to 1,824,051 on Saturday with 16,694 new infections, the second-highest number of daily infections recorded since the pandemic started.

The Philippines reported an all-time high of 17,231 new infections on Friday.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), Saturday's infections brought the country's active cases to 123,935, the highest since April 20.

Of these cases, 93.5% are mild, 3.7% are asymptomatic, 1.2% are severe, and 0.7% are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that total recoveries climbed to 1,668,520 after 15,805 more patients recovered from the illness. This is the highest daily recoveries recorded since April 25.

Meanwhile, 398 new fatalities brought the death toll to 31,596, also the highest recorded since April 9 when 401 deaths were recorded.

Four laboratories failed to submit data on time.

A total of 443 duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count, of which 426 are recoveries.

"Moreover, 211 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation," the DOH said.

Data from the DOH showed that 73% of intensive care unit beds nationwide are in use while 52% of the mechanical ventilators are occupied.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), 74% of the ICU beds are being utilized by patients while 58% of mechanical ventilators are in use.

Starting today, the NCR and the province of Laguna will be placed under a modified enhanced community quarantine until August 31.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Genome Center confirmed that there was community transmission of the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus in the country. -- DVM, GMA News