THE Department of Health (DoH) reported 3,420 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the total to 161,253.

The death toll rose to 2,665 after 65 more patients died, while recoveries increased by a record 40,397 to 112,586, it said in a bulletin.

Of the new cases, 2,091 came from Metro Manila, 263 from Laguna, 149 from Cavite, 137 from Batangas and 106 from Rizal, DoH said.

There were 46,002 active cases, 90.7% of which were mild, 6.7% did not show symptoms, 1.1% were severe and 1.5% were critical, it added.

Forty-six of the new reported deaths came from Metro Manila, 13 from Central Visayas, three from the Calabarzon region, and one each from Central Luzon, Bicol, and the Davao regions, the agency said.

More than 1.89 million individuals have been tested for the virus, according to DoH.

DoH reported “time-based” recoveries by reconciling their data with those of local government units.

Under the protocol, patients with mild symptoms or don’t show them at all will be tagged as recoveries after 14 days from the onset of the illness or from the time of swabbing.

The patients should be cleared by physicians before being classed as recoveries.

DoH said last week time-based recoveries will be reported every Sunday.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte locked down Luzon island in mid-March, suspending work, classes and public transportation to contain the pandemic. People should stay home except to buy food and other basic goods, he said.

He extended the strict lockdown twice for the island and thrice for Metro Manila. He later put Manila and nearby cities and provinces back under a strict lockdown until Aug. 18 after a fresh surge in infections.

The Education department also moved the opening of classes to Oct. 5 from Aug. 24. Mr. Duterte has said he wouldn’t allow face-face classes in the absence of a vaccine.

While Russia claims to be the first country to develop a coronavirus vaccine, trials were still being conducted and the vaccine shots are not expected to arrive in the Philippines until next year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said his country had developed the first vaccine for the coronavirus. Critics have questioned the safety of the vaccine from the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology since vaccines take years to develop.

The Philippines and Russia seek to run phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine from October to March, and these may involve as many as 3,000 volunteer patients, Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque said last week.

The coronavirus has sickened about 21.6 million and killed more than 769,000 people worldwide, according to Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.

The website said about 14.3 million people have recovered from the virus, listing only  6.5 million active cases. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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