The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, Sept. 20 reported 18,937 new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The additional new cases brought the total number of cases n the country to 2,385,616.
The case bulletin of the DOH also showed 20,171 new recoveries and 146 new deaths.
Total recoveries rose to 2,171,832 while total deaths climbed to 36,934.
The Health department said 70 duplicates were removed from the total case count as 51 of these were recoveries.
"Moreover, 53 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation," it said.
The DOH said all labs were operational on Sept. 18, 2021 while five labs were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS).
"Based on data in the last 14 days, the five non-reporting labs contribute, on average, 1.6 percent of samples tested and 1.7 percent of positive individuals," it said.
Meanwhile, the DOH reported that COVID-19 deaths had peaked last month.
"Nationally, deaths saw a new peak mid-August," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online press briefing.
"We cannot really attribute it to just one factor and the most plausible explanation for now, the number of deaths are increasing because the cases are increasing also," she added.
Data presented by the DOH official showed that the country saw an average of 155 deaths per day in August with the total reaching 4,816.
From Sept. 1 to 19, there have already been 1,888 deaths or 99 daily deaths.