THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 5,310 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, bringing the total to 1.19 million.
The death toll rose by 150 to 20,169, while recoveries increased by 7,408 to 1.13 million, it said in a bulletin.
There were 46,037 active cases, 1.7% of which were critical, 92.5% were mild, 2.1% did not show symptoms, 2.2% were severe and 1.51% were moderate.
It said six duplicates had been removed from the tally, four of which were tagged as recoveries. Eighty-six recoveries were reclassified as deaths. Four laboratories failed to submit data on May 24, DoH said. About 12.3 million Filipinos have been tested for the coronavirus as of May 24, according to the agency’s tracker website.
The coronavirus has sickened about 168.5 million and killed 3.5 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.
About 150.1 million people have recovered, it said.
Meanwhile, a suspect in the illegal sale of vaccines and vaccination slots in Mandaluyong City was surrendered by his father, a village councilor, to Mandaluyong City Mayor Carmelita Aguilar Abalos.
Ms. Abalos and her husband, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benjamin de Castro Abalos, Jr. presented the suspect to media at a news briefing on Wednesday.
Hours earlier, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Anti-Cybercrime Group identified the suspect as 22-year-old Kyle Bonifacio, who allegedly offered vaccines and a vaccine slot to his high school friend through social media.
The suspect said he was innocent. “I have no connection to the local government unit because I am just a young student,” he told the news briefing in Filipino.
The suspect will be turned over to police for further investigation, the MMDA chief said.
Also on Wednesday, national police chief Guillermo T. Eleazar said he would summon people involved in the illegal sale of vaccination slots in the capital region. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza