99.8K active cases as DOH records 8,773 new COVID-19 infections

MANILA, Philippines — (Corrected, 5:36 p.m.) The Philippines on Thursday recorded 8,773 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 693,048.

• Active cases: 99,891 or 14.4% of the total
• Recoveries: 574, pushing total to 580,062
• Deaths: 56, bringing total to 13,095

What's new today? 

• Thursday's cases mark the highest daily rise rise since the onset of the pandemic.
   
• This is only the second time that infections breached the 8,000-mark. The first instance was on Monday, March 22, 2021, when health authorities reported 8,019 new cases.
   
• Approaching 100,000, active cases again set a new daily record. 99,891 active cases — that's around the seating capacity of two Philippine Arenas, the largest indoor arena in the world. The positivity rate is at 16.1%
   
• The National Kidney and Transplant Institute in an advisory said its designated COVID-19 beds are fully occupied. 
   
• The OCTA Research group said the reproduction rate of COVID-19 in Metro Manila dropped by .08 points — or to 1.91 from 1.99 — but stressed that it is too soon to say this marks the start of a downward trend in the region. Experts have said that the reproduction number should be kept below 1 for infections to spread slowly. 
   
• Foreigners permitted to work in the Philippines dropped for the first time in 11 years in 2020, but remained elevated as those employed in the controversial offshore gaming industry stayed despite some closures.
   
• President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday aired his dismay over the vaccination of people who are not medical workers and who are not on the priority list, further warning the violators that they are up for charges. 
   
• Shortly after, the Commission on Human Rights warned that jumping the country's priority list for vaccination deprives healthcare workers of badly-needed jabs and imperils the country's inoculation program.
   
• The Department of Foreign Affairs in its latest bulletin reported 31 new COVID-19 cases among Filipinos abroad, bringing the total to 16,040. Deaths remain unchanged at 1,047 with no new reports while recoveries climbed to 9,722 after the agency received reports that 20 more migrant Filipinos survived the virus. 

— Bella Perez-Rubio with a report from Xave Gregorio 

(Editor's note: This article has been corrected to show that the drop in the reproduction rate was by .08 points and not 0.8 as earlier reported)

Related Stories

LIVE updates: COVID-19 in the Philippines 2021