Philippines Logs 13,827 New COVID-19 Daily Cases, Total Rises To 1,989,857

Faizan Hashmi Published August 31, 2021 | 02:53 PM

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 1,989,857 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 13,827 new daily cases on Tuesday

MANILA, Aug. 31 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Aug, 2021 ) :The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 1,989,857 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 13,827 new daily cases on Tuesday.

The DOH also reported 118 coronavirus-related deaths, raising the Southeast Asian country's death toll to 33,448.

The department said the low caseload is due to lower laboratory output on Sunday, adding eight laboratories failed to submit data.

World Health Organization Representative in the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe confirmed the community transmission of the highly infectious Delta variant, saying it is now the dominant COVID-19 strain spreading in the Philippines.

Abeyasinghe told an online briefing Tuesday that more than 70 percent of the current transmission in the Philippines is attributable to the Delta variant.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that since the Delta variant's detection in the country in July, the Delta cases have shown a "steady increase" and constituted "a greater percentage in the recent sequencing runs.""This coincides with the start of a steeper rise in the number of cases in July," she said.