The Department of Health on Saturday announced 233 new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019, bringing the nationwide total to 4,428.

The health department also announced 17 new recoveries, bringing the total of recovered cases to 157.

Twenty-six new deaths have also been recorded, bringing the number of fatalities to 247.

The DOH recently issued a memo changing the classification for COVID-19 patients in a bid to boost testing measures for patients being screened for the virus.