NDO/VNA - The Philippine Department of Health on August 23 recorded 18,332 new cases of COVID-19, the highest daily surge since the pandemic broke out in the country.

Manila officials also acknowledged for the first time community transmission due to the Delta variant in Metro Manila.
In addition, the country reported 151 new deaths, raising the total number of fatalities to 31,961. The total number of COVID-19 cases in this Southeast Asian country mounted to 1,857,646 cases.

The Ministry of Health's spokeswoman Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the Delta variant with the ability to spread quickly is spreading throughout the Metro Manila area. She stated that by looking at the epidemic map, community transmission is concentrated in densely populated areas where nearly 30 million people live.

According to local officials, the infection rate here has leveled off after two weeks of imposing a strict lockdown order.

To date, just over 4 million people, or 43.5% of the population in Metro Manila, have been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is moving to relax restrictions on community activities.
President Joko Widodo said the government will gradually relax the regulations on the implementation of restrictions on community activities (PPKM) level 4 due to an improvement in some indicators.
The resumption of community activities must still be done step by step in line with health protocols such as testing and contact tracing, as well as a broader rollout of immunisation.

According to the President, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet and some countries are currently experiencing the third wave of COVID-19 and Indonesia must stay vigilant to curb the spread of the pandemic.

According to the Indonesian Ministry of Health, the country recorded 9,604 new infections on August 23, bringing the total caseload to 3,989,060. With 842 deaths, the number of fatalities rose to 127,214.

In a related development, Cambodia has so far recorded a total of 999 Delta variant infections.
Cambodian Health Minister Mam Hun Heng said the Delta variant has appeared in 23 provinces and cities of the country, of which the most are in Pailin (270 cases) and Phnom Penh (238 cases).

The Ministry of Health reminded people to strictly comply with prevention measures such as wearing masks, maintaining distance and avoiding large gatherings.

The Cambodian Ministry of Health confirmed 16 deaths and 410 cases of COVID-19 on August 23, including 132 imported cases. Cambodia has detected a total of 89,641 cases of COVID-19, of which 85,618 recovered and 1,808 died.