Philippines logs 1,392 new Coronavirus cases

Manila: The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday reported 1,392 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, pushing the total number in the country to 424,297.

The DOH said 328 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 387,266.

The death toll climbed to 8,242 after 27 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.

Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the Philippine national action plan to combat Covid-19, bared on Thursday that the Philippines will sign Friday a deal to buy 2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

"This coming Friday, we will sign a tripartite agreement to buy 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca," Galvez said in a virtual media briefing.

The Philippine government aims to vaccinate around 60 million to 70 million Filipinos in three to five years.