COVID-19 cases in the country increased to 483,852 after the Department of Health (DoH) detected 1,776 new infections Friday.
The DoH said most of the new cases were found in Bulacan (99), Davao City (96), Quezon City (83), Rizal (80), and Laguna (64).
There were 285 patients who have recovered while eight more fatalities were reported, increasing the total number of recoveries and deaths in the country at 449,330 and 9,364, respectively.
The number of active cases or those who are still ill is at 25,158. Of this, 82.6 percent have mild symptoms, 8.6 percent are asymptomatic, 5.4 percent are in critical condition, 2.9 percent are severe, while 0.48 percent are in moderate condition.
Meanwhile, DoH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the department has suspended five laboratories for failing to submit their COVID-19 data on time.
“As of today, we already were able to suspend five laboratories. Isa doon sa lima, nakapag-comply na and nakapagbigay na ng commitment sa amin (One of the five has already complied and given us their commitment) and suspension was lifted already,” she said.
“May apat pa tayo na suspendido sa ngayon and until they can fully comply with the requirements for reporting saka po tayo mali-lift ng suspension (Currently, four are still suspended and their suspension will only be lifted until they can fully comply with the requirements for reporting),” she added.
Vergeire urged all COVID-19 laboratories nationwide to submit their data to the DoH system on time.
“We encourage all laboratories to please comply with your reportorial requirement para makumpleto ang ating mga datos na ating natatanggap (to complete the data that we are receiving) so we can see the full picture of cases in the country,” she said.