Philippines Becomes Southeast Asia's COVID-19 Hotspot

As of Thursday, Aug 6, the Philippines surpassed Indonesia to become Southeast Asia's COVID-19 hotspot with a total of 119,460 cases.

The DOH reported 3,561 new cases on Thursday, marking eight consecutive days over 3,000 daily infections.

Metro Manila accounted for 2,041 of the new cases, followed by Laguna and Cebu with 222 and 221 respectively.

Recoveries increased to 66,837 after 569 more patients recovered, while deaths rose to 2,104 with nine new fatalities.

The Palace downplayed the high case numbers, citing global trends and increased testing capacity.