The Department of Health (DOH) reported 4,002 additional COVID-19 cases Thursday, bringing total infections to 147,526 since the pandemic started.
Of the total cases, more than half or 74,713 are active or still infected with COVID-19.
Health officials reported 23 new fatalities, bringing the total death toll to 2,426. Metro Manila accounted for 43 percent of the new deaths.
At the same time, the DOH reported 1,403 new recoveries, bringing to 70,387 the number of patients who have recovered from COVID-19.
Thursday’s tally was based on test results from 93 out of 100 accredited COVID-19 testing labs.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said earlier in the day that the spike in cases is still driven by community transmission.
According to ABS-CBN Data Analytics Head Edson Guido, the number of confirmed cases for August is on pace to exceed the cumulative number of infections from January to July, which is 93,000.
The Philippines has been logging record-high numbers in terms of new COVID-19 cases since late July, following the easing of quarantine measures and the gradual opening of the economy.
“We have observed that the cases right now or the infections are being identified in specific areas in the country in the communities…. [C]lustering in the communities is increasing,” Vergeire said in an interview on ANC Headstart.
However, she also said that other factors such as returning overseas Filipinos, locally stranded individuals and expanded testing capacity are pushing the numbers up.
She assured the public that authorities are already doing “active case finding” in communities.
“That is why there are a lot of individuals being identified as positive right now,” she said.
On Wednesday, the DOH reported 69 additional COVID-19 areas of clustering, bringing the total to 1,107.
The newly identified areas of clustering include 17 in NCR, 17 in Region 4A, and 13 in Region 5.