Coronavirus cases in the Philippines top 469,000 with 1,406 new infections
MANILA, Philippines — The health department on Saturday reported another 1,406 COVID-19 infections, pushing the national caseload to a grim 469,005.
Of the total cases recorded, 28,883 — or 6.2% are active, which means these patients are still undergoing quarantine or treatment.
Recovered patients are at 431,055, after 266 more people were reported to have survived the deadly virus.
However, health authorities logged 5 new fatalities, bringing the country's total death toll to 9,067.
The Philippines' positivity rate currently stands 6.6%. This is based on the 10,336 number of people tested before 12 p.m. the day previous, 680 of whom tested positive.
The following areas posted the most number of cases per the health department's latest bulletin:
- Bulacan with 100 new cases
- Quezon City with 98 more infections
- Rizal with 88 new cases
- Laguna with 73 more infections
- Batangas with 69 new cases
In a push to curb the predicted spike in cases amid the holiday season, government officials have been urging the public to avoid traditional holiday gatherings and hold virtual parties instead.
On Christmas Day, the DOH logged 1,885 new coronavirus infections — the highest of the week.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday ordered the suspension of flights from the United Kingdom from December 24 to December 31 amid mounting concerns over a new strain of coronavirus that emerged in the United Kingdom which experts fear to be more contagious than the original. Duterte will also hold a meeting with the COVID-19 task force on Saturday to discuss the alarming development.
The DOH said that while the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine had not detected any new variant of the coronavirus, surveillance of circulating strains will be ramped up.
The British virus variant — which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said "may be up to 70% more transmissible than the original version of the disease" — has already been detected in Rome, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, and most recently in France. More than 50 countries have imposed travel restrictions on the UK.
Worldwide, 79.79 million people have contracted coronavirus, a stunning 1.74 million of whom have died as a result.
It has been 286 days since parts of the Philippines were first placed under lockdown.
— Bella Perez-Rubio with reports from Xave Gregorio and Agence France-Presse
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