The country posted its lowest single-day tally of new infections since Aug. 1 at 2,378 cases on Sunday. This brought the total number of COVID-19 cases to 189,601 since the pandemic started.
At the same time, the Department of Health reported 32 new deaths, bringing total fatalities from COVID-19 to 2,998.
Recoveries surged to 131,367 with 16,459 new cases of recovery.
The country recorded the most number of new cases this month, with 93,354 infections from Aug. 1 to 23, or almost half of the total volume since the first COVID-19 positive patients were reported in March.
Sunday marked the first time in 11 days that the number of new cases fell below 3,000.
The country has tested 2,150,514 individuals for COVID-19 as of Aug. 22.
The National Capital Region had the most number of new cases at 1,022. It was followed by Cavite with 132 cases, Laguna with 128, Rizal with 115 and Cebu with 96.
The Philippines still has the highest number of total and active cases in Southeast Asia.
There are 55,236 active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine. Of these, 91.5 percent are mild, 6.1 percent are asymptomatic, 1 percent are severe, and 1.4 percent are in critical condition.
The DOH on Sunday clarified that the omnibus guidelines on COVID-19 testing have not yet been finalized or approved, nor have they been signed and issued for implementation.
Moreover, while there are antigen kits approved for commercial use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), DOH does not endorse specific brands or distributors.
The “ªDOH called on the public to be vigilant when it comes to information, and to verify everything through the DOH’s official website and social media pages.
Clinical trials on the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID -19) involving 40,000 volunteers start soon in Russia, a development that health authorities in the Philippines, which hopes to be one of the first beneficiaries of the serum, will be closely monitoring.
Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of the Russia Direct Investment Fund, said the trials would be a “randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled” type.
“That will be a very important trial, that will be parallel with the vaccination of risk groups,” Dmitriev said.
Dmitriev said that Moscow was willing to send 1,000 doses of Sputnik V to the country as long as the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve the results of the phases one and two trials that they have submitted to the Russian embassy.
DoST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development Executive Director Dr. Jaime Montoya and FDA Director General Dr. Rolando Enrique Domingo agreed that Russia should present the results of its trials to Philippine authorities before the vaccine could be tested here.
“We will not accept a phase three trial here in the country if [the manufacturer] cannot prove in the phase one and phase two trials the safety and some level of efficacy of a vaccine,” Domingo said.