The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported over 1,000 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, as its chief flip-flopped on statements about flattening the curve.

Philippines registered 1,392 additional COVID-19 cases, alongside announcement of major hospitals that they were now in “full capacity” in dealing with respiratory illness. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 58,850.

Of the additional cases on Wednesday that were reported by 73 out of 82 laboratories, 708 are from the National Capital Region, 198 from Cebu province, 86 from Iloilo, 64 from Laguna and 46 from Cavite.

NCR, Region 7 and Region 4A have been identified as areas showing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.

The DOH also reported 517 additional recovered patients or a total of 20,976 recoveries. Additional recoveries have also seen a spike since the weekend because of data reconciliation efforts of the DOH with local government units.

There are also 11 additional COVID-related deaths or a total of 1,614.

The relatively low number of deaths has been cited by the government as a sign that the COVID-19 situation in the country is improving despite the increase in cases in NCR and other areas like Region 7.

This brings the total number of active cases or those who have yet to recover to 36,260. This is slightly higher than the last 2 days.

Of the active cases, 90.6% have mild symptoms, 8.6% are asymptomatic, 0.4% have severe symptoms while 0.5% are in critical condition.

The DOH noted that 87 duplicate cases were removed from the total count. 

“The total cases reported may be subject to change as these numbers undergo constant cleaning and validation,” the DOH said in its statement./Stacy Ang