Philippines: Mass vaccination to begin on March 1 as Covid-19 cases top 576,000 on Sunday (Feb 28)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian check a vial of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccine during the arrival ceremony for the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines to arrive in the country, at Villamor Air Base, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines, on Sunday (Feb 28, 2021). - Reuters

MANILA, Feb 28 (Xinhua): The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Sunday 2,113 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the South-East Asian country to 576,352.

The death toll climbed to 12,318 after 29 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said, adding that 9,418 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 534,271.