The Department of Health (DOH) reported 208 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday, bringing total infections nationwide to 12,513.
Seven more people died from the disease, bringing total fatalities to 824.
The department also reported 74 new recoveries, bringing the total number of patients who have recovered from the disease to 2,635.
Metro Manila accounted for 174 of the new cases or 83 percent of all new infections.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, said the number of overseas Filipinos who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 rose to 2,360 with 30 new infections.
Citing latest reports, the DFA said that 35 more overseas Filipinos have recovered from the virus, bringing the total to 824, while a total of 1,262 patients are still undergoing treatment.
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The death toll climbed to 274 with five new fatalities.
“Europe and the Middle East remain as leaders in terms of total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among nationals abroad, followed by the Americas, which ranks first in mortality,” the DFA said, in a statement.
In the Middle East of Africa, the death toll increased to 41 while recoveries remained at 86. Patients undergoing treatment decreased to 558.
An increase in both fatalities and recoveries was also recorded in Europe at 83 and 226, respectively, while patients undergoing treatment in the region decreased to 381.
The DFA reported that the death toll in the Americas increased to 148, while recoveries in the region also climbed to 202. On the other hand, patients undergoing treatment decreased to 190.
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Thr Bureau of Immigration (BI) said a total of 125 immigration personnel assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport all tested negative for COVID-19.
Immigration commissioner Jaime Morente said a second batch of rapid antibody-based testing was conducted for immigration personnel assigned at NAIA on Friday.
“We are targeting to roll out mass testing among our frontline officers who are one of the most at risk in contracting this virus, being the first that international travelers encounter during their arrival in the country,” Morente said.
Also on Sunday, the DOH said 36 more patients have been included in the World Health Organization (WHO)-supported clinical trials in the Philippines for a COVID-19 cure.
As of Saturday, 117 COVID-19 patients in 14 hospitals in Metro Manila and one in Davao City were enrolled in the WHO’s Solidarity Trial, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
The Philippines is among some 100 countries that are participating in the clinical trial, which involves the testing of off-label drugs—remdesivir, lopinavir and ritonavir combined, lopnavir and ritonavir plus interferon beta, and chloroquine–that have shown some evidence of effectivity against COVID-19.
On the testing front, the Philippine Red Cross is set to open a bio-molecular laboratory at its logistics and training center located inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone to service Zambales and its neighboring provinces.
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Senator Richard Gordon, PRC chairman and chief executive officer, said the facility, which has already been completed and awaiting the conduct of proficiency testing by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for accreditation, was built with the support of donors and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority or SBMA.
“Our aim is to ensure victory over the virus. We have to unmask the unseen enemy so we could isolate and treat those who are infected and prevent the further spread of the disease. That’s why we are setting up several laboratories across the country,” he said.
Gordon said that once the facility becomes operation, health workers from the SBMA will conduct the swabbing and encoding at the SBF’s Main Gate while the actual testing of the specimens will be done in the PRC laboratory.
The PRC, which has the distinction of being the only Red Cross national society with a bio-molecular laboratory system, already opened two testing centers that are both equipped with polymerase chain reaction machines that can run up to a combined total of 8,000 tests a day. They are also equipped with automated RNA extraction machines.
On Friday, the Department of Health also accredited PRC’s third testing center in Port Area, Manila. Like the first two, the Manila laboratory is also equipped with four PCR machines that are also capable of processing up to a total of 4,000 tests a day.
Gordon said the facility in Subic is also equipped with an automated RNA extraction machine and two PCR machines, which can complete up to a total of 2,000 tests combined.
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