The Philippines on Sunday logged 16,953 new COVID-19 cases as Metro Manila is set to return to Alert Level 2 starting Feb. 1.
The day's tally brought active cases to 202,864, with a total of 27,638 new recoveries and 20 new deaths reported.
Overall, a total of 3,545,680 COVID-19 cases have been reported since the pandemic began in March 2020, of which 3,288,925 have recovered and 53,891 died.
Along with Metro Manila, seven other provinces will be placed under Alert Level 2 from Feb. 1 to 15 as the country sees a decline in COVID-19 cases. These are the provinces of Batanes, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Biliran, Southern Leyte, and Basilan.
Under Alert Level 2, children can still go outdoors for leisure activities, and industries are allowed to operate at bigger capacities based on guidelines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 response.
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