FILE PHOTO: An undated scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow), also known as novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab. NIAID-RML/Handout via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT

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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ tally of COVID-19 cases hit 334,770 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,996 new infections on Friday.

The DOH count showed that this increase brought the number of patients with active coronavirus cases to 53,311.

Of which, 85.8% have mild symptoms, 9.9% are asymptomatic, 1.4% experience severe symptoms, and 3% are in critical condition.

The bulk of the new COVID-19 cases came from Metro Manila with 1,094, followed by Cavite (282), Batangas (151), Iloilo (152), and Laguna (147).

There are 1,045 new recoveries reported, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 275,307.

However, 83 deaths were recorded, bringing the death toll to 6,152.

The DOH also noted that 95 duplicate cases were removed from the total case count after validation of data sent by the testing laboratories. Of these, 21 were recovered cases.

Moreover, 35 cases previously tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

JPV