MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines on Friday recorded 4,786 new coronavirus infections, taking its total confirmed cases to 182,365 since the pandemic began, the highest in Southeast Asia.

In a bulletin, the health ministry also reported 59 more fatalities, bringing the country’s death toll to 2,940.

“The infectiousness has increased because the strain has evolved,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said at a webinar on Friday.

(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Martin Petty)

Copyright 2020 Thomson Reuters.