4,836 new infections bring PH COVID-19 cases to almost 170K

MANILA, Philippines — An additional 4,836 infections of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) brought the Philippines’ tally to 169,213 on Tuesday.

As of 4 p.m. of Aug. 18, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that of the total number of cases, 53,665 of these were active cases.

The area where the most number of cases were reported in Metro Manila with 2,959 infections, followed Laguna with 321, Cavite having 220 cases, Rizal with 185 infections and Bulacan with 145 cases.

Those areas would be placed under the general community quarantine (GCQ) starting Aug. 19, after a two-week reimposition of a strict coronavirus lockdown.

Also, the DOH recorded 182 new recoveries, bringing the total to 112,861.

But the country’s death toll rose to 2,687 after seven new fatalities were logged.

The DOH noted that 97 duplicates, which include 76 recoveries and one death, were removed from the total case count.

There were also four cases that previously reported as recovered, but were later identified as active cases after final validation, the DOH added. [ac]