By NewsDesk @bactiman63

The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) reported an additional 4,226 new COVID-19 cases today, bringing the country total to 126,885.

COVID-19
Image/CDC

The bulk of new cases (2,669) were reported in the Metro Manila area, which was followed by Laguna (285), Cavite (154), Cebu (125) and Rizal (118).

The death toll now stands at 2,209 after reporting another 41.

The DOH also reported that the Philippines has taken the top spot in terms of testing capacity in the entire Southeast Asian region, with the country having tested more unique individuals than its economically advanced neighbor countries.

As of August 4, 2020, according to DOH data, the country has a total of 99 licensed testing laboratories and conducted a total of 1,643,539 tests, testing an average of 28,938 tests per day within the last 7 days. This is significantly higher than Indonesia which has tested a total of around 908,000 as of August 4, and testing an average of 14,291 per day within the last 7 days according to Our World in Data.

The Philippines’ total number of tests conducted relative to its population size is 1.5% according to DOH data, a significantly higher percentage compared to Indonesia which has tested around 0.34% of its total population according to Our World in Data.

Lastly, Former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has died from COVID-19. He was 90.

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