MANILA — The Philippines on Thursday recorded 1,936 new COVID-19 cases and 3 new deaths, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.

The daily tally is the highest in over 4 months or since Feb. 18, ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team head Edson Guido said.

The number of people currently positive for the coronavirus stood at 11,370, the highest since April 26, Guido added.

The country's total confirmed COVID-19 cases climbed to 3,713,131.

Of the additional cases reported during the day, 849 are from Metro Manila, the DOH said.

The country's first COVID-19 infection was reported on Jan. 30, 2020, involving a Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan City, China where the disease is believed to have first emerged.

The DOH data showed that the total number of COVID-related deaths in the country has reached 60,625.

Total recoveries, meanwhile, stood at 3,641,136.

Despite the increase in the number of new cases, healthcare utilization remains low at 21 percent, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Thursday.

The DOH on the same day said it detected 167 more cases of highly-transmissible omicron subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5.

An additional 140 cases of the omicron BA.5, 20 more cases of the BA2.12.1, and 7 more cases of the BA.4 were discovered in the latest whole genome sequencing which ran samples collected from June 29 to July 4.

More than 70 million people in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Metro Manila and dozens of other areas will stay under COVID-19 Alert Level 1 until July 15, Malacañang said.

Under Alert 1, all indoor establishments and public transport may operate at 100 percent capacity, but only for those with full vaccination status.

Authorities continue to remind the public to follow minimum health protocols, especially wearing of face masks.

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