(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 10) — Over 79,000 people in the country are currently sick with COVID-19, according to the Department of Health.

The DOH case bulletin on Tuesday listed 79,016 active cases, the highest since April 24, when the number of ill patients was above 89,000.

The active case count is 4.7% of the infection tally, which rose to 1,676,156 after 8,560 more people caught the virus. At least 94.4% of active cases have mild symptoms, 1.7% have severe symptoms, 1.7% are asymptomatic, 1.18% are in moderate condition and 1% are in critical condition.

The death toll climbed to 29,220 or 1.74% of total cases after 92 more people lost their lives to the disease. Meanwhile, 7,964 got better, raising the recovery count to 1,567,920 which is 93.5% of the case total.

The DOH said it reclassified 36 survivors — seven into active cases and 29 into deaths — after validation, and deleted 118 duplicate cases, including 114 recoveries.

The total excluded data from 13 laboratories that failed to submit their reports on time, the DOH added. These laboratories contributed an average of 2.8% of samples tested and 2.8% of positive individuals in the last 14 days, the agency said.

The positivity rate, or percentage of people that yielded positive results out of the total tested, continued to rise, from 21.7% on August 7 to 21.9% based on 33,070 tests reported on August 8. The rate has been above 20% for the past three days, indicating an urgent need to test more people, according to the US nonprofit Covid Act Now that sets the benchmark for adequate testing at below 3%.

Covid Act Now’s metrics serve as basis for the OCTA research team’s projections. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization says a positivity rate below 5% shows the infection is under control.

OCTA also flagged an increase in cases in areas outside Metro Manila namely: Cebu City, Tuguegarao City, Bulacan and Cavite among others. Cebu City is suffering the worst surge with the local government even considering setting up a mass grave for deceased COVID-19 patients.

Acting Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama asked the national government for additional vaccines as the metropolis is being “challenged” by the rise in COVID-19 patients.