The Philippines logged 2,747 new COVID-19 cases on September 26, bringing the national count to 301,256, according to the country’s Department of Health.

A health worker in Indonesia takes patient's sample for COVID-19 testing (Photo: VNA)

The Philippines has the largest number of infections across Southeast Asia, with a death toll of 5,284 and 232,906 recoveries. Metro Manila is the worst-hit region with an additional 1,115 cases being reported on the day.

More than 3.37 million people have to date been tested for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

Philippine Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there is an "improvement" in the country's critical care utilisation rate in the last two weeks, adding that there has been a "slow decongestion" in hospitals, including in Metro Manila.

The rate in Metro Manila has gone down to about 60 percent from a high of up to 81 percent in August, meaning hospitals have the capacity to take in more COVID-19 patients, she said.

The transmission rate has dropped to less than one and the country health department is closely monitoring 1,963 virus clusters in hospitals, jails, and densely populated communities.

Despite the improvement, Vergeire said the government needs to continue to strengthen the health system in its efforts to slow the spread of the the virus.

The Philippines continues to recruit more health workers, including doctors, nurses and medical technologists, to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The health department said a total of 9,133 health workers contracted the virus, including 60 deaths.

Metro Manila remains under general community quarantine until September 30. The government will announce whether to ease or retain the lockdown status for the following weeks before the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Indonesia had 4,494 new infections and 90 deaths to report on 26 September, lifting the total to 271,339 and 10,308, respectively.

The country records the highest number of fatalities across the region.

Source: VNA