ANKARA 

The COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surpassed 13,000 mark on Wednesday, the health authorities said.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said 279 new coronavirus cases were reported in the island state to take the national tally to 13, 221.

“The total number of recovered patients rose to 2,932 after 89 more infected people were treated,” the official said.

The recoveries account for 22% of the total cases reported in the country.

However, five more patients lost their life due to the infection, taking national toll to 842.

Most of the news cases were reported in the capital Metro Manila where the lockdown has been relaxed.

In Thailand, health officials said only a single new coronavirus case was reported on Wednesday.

The Buddhist-majority country has reported a total of 3,034 infections while 56 patients died due to the virus.

Meanwhile, the country’s central bank today announced it cut its fifth policy rate cut since August by 25 basis points to a record low of 0.50%, the daily Bangkok Post reported.

The move aims to help the businesses affected by the pandemic.

After first reported in China last December, the coronavirus has infected 4.91 million people and killed over 323,500 people across the globe, while 1.7 million have recovered.