MANILA – The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH), reported 18,937 new COVID-19 infections today, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 2,385,616.

The DOH also reported 146 coronavirus-related deaths, raising the country’s death toll to 36,934, as the highly infectious Delta variant continues to spread in the country.

Health Undersecretary, Maria Rosario Vergeire, said, the Delta variant detected increased from five percent in June, to 89 percent of lineages detected in Aug.

The Delta variant is now “the most common lineage” among the more than 12,500 sequenced samples in the country, Vergeire said, in an online briefing.

She said, the number of cases in Metro Manila “continues to increase but at a slower rate,” warning that the number of cases has not hit its peak.

DOH experts have projected cases to peak by the end of Sept or early Oct, while Vergeire said, the projection could change.

She said that, 97 areas in the country are classified under alert level 4, meaning that, the hospital utilisation rate is more than 70 percent.

On COVID-19 related deaths, Vergeire said, deaths in the country have been increasing since the last week of July, and a new peak was seen in mid-Aug.

She said, the country’s average daily deaths in Aug hit 155, exceeding those recorded in Apr this year, and partial data for Sept showed an average of 99 deaths per day.

The Philippines, which has around 110 million population, has tested nearly 19 million people since the outbreak in Jan, 2020.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK