Philippines sees 7,342 new coronavirus infections

MANILA, Philippines (Corrected 5:58 p.m.) — Local health authorities on Wednesday reported 7,342 more COVID-19 infections, bringing the national caseload to 1,619,824.

• Active cases: 63,171 or 3.9% of the total

• Recoveries: 7,285, pushing total to 1,528,422

• Deaths: 90, bringing total to 28,231.

9% of Filipinos fully vaccinated ahead of Metro Manila lockdown 

• Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. told the House health committee that 9,825,466 people, 9.01% of the population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 since the government launched its inoculation program in March. 

• When Metro Manila is placed under a two-week enhanced community quarantine on Friday, unauthorized persons outside of residence will not be allowed to drive APORs to and from their workplaces, the Philippine National Police chief said.

• The current supply and capacity of public transport, however, will be retained in the capital region throughout the enhanced community quarantine, according to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade. Only APORs will be accommodated. 

(Editor's note: The number of total deaths has been corrected to 28,231. A higher figure was used in an earlier version of this article due to a transcription error. We regret the error.)