The Philippines logged its highest confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in a day with 6,958 on Monday, bringing the total count to 136,638, the Department of Health (DOH) said.  
 
There are 633 new recovered patients, taking the number of recoveries nationwide to 68,159. A total of 24 fatalities were also reported, bringing the death toll to 2,293.
 
According to the DOH, the top reporting regions were National Capital Region with 4,163 cases, followed by Calabarzon with 1,323 and Region 3 with 302. Also noted are the 254 cases reported among returning overseas Filipinos (ROF).
 
The latest data were from the submission of 74 of the 99 confirming laboratories in the country.
 
Of these newly reported cases, 5,789 or 83 percent occurred within the recent 14 days (July 28-August 10, 2020).
 
The August 10 case bulletin came later in the day due to an “unexpected system error that caused the non-inclusion of new cases in the COVIDKAYA-extracted database,” the Health department said.
 
It added that it took them additional time to process the recently extracted data. The system error is now under investigation.
 
The DOH said they are still challenged with the reports they are getting from licensed laboratories, citing incomplete reports and non-usage of appropriate forms in reporting.
 
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has already directed the department to enforce stricter policy on the submissions of data as the compliance of laboratories on submissions remains at 70 percent.
 
“Every week, we do data reconciliation to ensure that we don’t miss out anything. We look into all the submitted data then we reconcile the data. Today, we will be issuing a memo to all laboratories so that they will be informed that this is a requirement,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.  
 
“Obligasyon ng bawat reporting unit ‘yan (It’s every reporting unit’s obligation) so they are supposed to submit to us, that’s part of their requirement to be a licensed facility. If they fail to submit, they will be sanctioned,” Vergeire added.