The Philippines reported Tuesday 18,056 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections, pushing the nationwide tally to 2,266,066.

Amid the spike, the Department of Health (DOH) announced that 12 Covid-19 laboratories failed to submit their daily reports on time. 

“The relatively low cases today is due to lower laboratory output last Sunday, September 12,” the Health Department said.

Today’s tally brings the country’s active cases to 177,670: 85.8% are mild, 9.5% are asymptomatic, 1.4% are severe, and 0.6% are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the country’s recovery rate climbed to 2,052,867 with 20,542 more patients winning the fight against the deadly respiratory illness.

Death toll, on the other hand, increased to 35,529 with 222 new fatalities.

The DOH also confirmed that 61 duplicate cases were successfully removed from the nationwide count. 

“Moreover, 92 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” it said. Ronald Espartinez