MANILA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,190 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total tally to 2,820,494.

The DOH also reported that 309 more people have died from COVID-19 complications in the Southeast Asian country, bringing the coronavirus-related death toll to 46,117. Of the newly reported deaths, only 18 fatalities occurred in November.

The Philippine government has allowed limited face-to-face school classes in areas under alert levels 1, 2, and 3, acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said on Wednesday.

The resumed classroom study is subject to certain conditions, such as 50 percent indoor venue capacity, no opposition from the local government unit concerned, and participation of fully vaccinated teaching and non-teaching personnel and students only, Nograles said.

The Philippines is currently implementing a scale of 1 to 5 alert level system based on the COVID-19 infection and hospitalization rate. Alert 1 is the lowest, and 5, the highest. Metro Manila is now under alert level 2.

On Wednesday, the Philippines began administering COVID-19 booster shots to fully vaccinated frontline health workers.

The Philippines has administered more than 71.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Wednesday, with more than 32 million people being fully vaccinated. The government aims to vaccinate up to 70 percent of its 110 million population this year.

To date, the Philippines has received more than 128 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from different vaccine makers, including Sinovac in China.

The Philippines' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the emergency use authorization for India's Covovax vaccine against COVID-19, FDA Director General Enrique Domingo said on Wednesday.

Domingo said the Covovax vaccine, which will be manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, is approved for use on adults aged 18 and above. Enditem

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