Philippines reports 1,607 new COVID-19 infections, total cases hit 371,630

 The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Monday reported 1,607 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the cases in the country to 371,630.

   The DOH said 245 more patients had recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 328,258. The death toll climbed to 7,039 after 62 more patients died, the DOH said.

   Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told an online media briefing that as of Oct. 25, the DOH has monitored a total of 2,531 COVID-19 clusters across the country.

   She said 2,140 or 84.6 percent of the total clusters occurred in communities, 119 or 4.7 percent occurred in hospitals or health facilities, 43 or 1.7 percent occurred in jails, and 229 or 9 percent in other settings.

   She said the DOH had noted that "there is an increasing number of cases in certain areas in the Mindanao region in the southern Philippines" recently.

   However, she said the health care system in the region can still cope with the spike.