More than 1,180 cases have been added to the total number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported 1,184 new cases bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 553,424.
The Feb.17 case bulletin of the DOH also showed 271 new recoveries and 53 new deaths.
Total recoveries is now at 512,033 while total deaths is at 11,577.
According to DOH, four duplicates were removed from the total case count.
"These 4 are recoveries," said the Health department.
"In addition, 2 cases were found to have tested negative and have been removed from the total case count," it added.
The DOH said 30 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.
Three labs were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Data Repository System (CDRS) on Feb. 16, 2021, said DOH.
Meanwhile, the DOH said there must be safeguards in case there will be a shift to the modified general community quarantine.
"We understand the necessary balance between health and economy. But we must have these safeguards if we want to shift into that direction," DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a radio interview.
The primary safeguard, she said, is the capability of the local government units to handle possible surge in COVID-19 cases.
"If our local governments already have better surveillance, isolation, quarantine, contact tracing, testing systems, then we can already shift to MGCQ," said Vergeire.