(BusinessWorld) CORONAVIRUS infections are expected to peak in the coming weeks, Health authorities said on Thursday, a week after the capital region was placed under a strict lockdown to contain a more contagious Delta variant.

“In the next days and weeks, we’ll probably be seeing additional peaks,” Alethea De Guzman, director of the Health department’s Epidemiology Bureau said at a virtual forum.

The new peak from Aug. 19 to 25 had surpassed the previous peak experienced from Aug. 12 to 20, she said.

The Department of Health (DoH) reported 16,313 coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 1.9 million.

The death toll rose to 32,728 after 236 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 9,659 to 1.74 million, it said in a bulletin.

There were 131,921 active cases, 96.1% of which were mild, 1.1% did not show symptoms, 1.2% were severe, 1.03% were moderate and 0.6% were critical.

The agency said 201 duplicates had been removed from the tally, 201 of which were tagged as recoveries, while 125 recoveries were reclassified as deaths. Five laboratories failed to submit data on Aug. 24.