CORONAVIRUS cases in the country accelerated again, as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,139 new cases of infection on Friday, October 16, 2020.

These new cases brought the total caseload in the country past the 350,000 mark.

In its case bulletin at 4 p.m. Friday, DOH said there were 50,354 active cases and a total of 351,750 nationwide.

The agency also announced 786 recoveries, increasing the total number of recoveries to 294,865.

There were 34 additional mortalities, raising the death toll from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) to 6,531.

Of the 34 deaths, 17 occurred in October (50 percent), nine in September, four in August, three in July and one in May.

The deaths were from Caraga (7), Western Visayas (5), Bicol (4), Central Luzon (3), Central Visayas (3), Soccsksargen (3), Cagayan Valley (2) and Calabarzon (2).

These regions also reported one new mortality each - Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Mimaropa, Cordillera and National Capital Region (NCR).

Eight cases that were previously tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths.

Of the 3,139 reported cases Friday, 2,023 (64 percent) occurred within the last 14 days from October 3 to 16.

NCR reported the highest number of new cases at 1,003, followed by Cavite with 206, Rizal with 175, Laguna with 138 and Iloilo with 126.

There were 87 duplicates that were removed from the total case count while 15 laboratories failed to submit their data to the Covid-19 Data Repository System on October 15, 2020.

Indonesia surpassed the Philippines in terms of confirmed cases of infection on Thursday, as it recorded 349,160 cases against the Philippines’ 348,698.

Globally, cases of infection have increased to nearly 39 million as of October 16, based on the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. More than 1.09 million had died from Covid-19. (MVI/HDT/SunStar Philippines)