Philippines logs new record-high 26,303 COVID-19 cases

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines logged once again its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the pandemic began with health authorities reporting Saturday 26,303 new infections, pushing the total to 2,206,021.

• Active cases: 185,706 or 8.4% of the total
• Recoveries: 16,013, bringing the number to 1,985,337
• Deaths: 79, or now 34,978 in total

Duterte threatens to cut gov't dealings with Red Cross

• President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to end all government transactions with the Philippine Red Cross, which Sen. Dick Gordon chairs, unless they allow themselves to be audited by state auditors.
   
• The threat comes as Gordon, who also chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, continues to lead the investigation into the government's spending for pandemic supplies.
   
• Among the transactions that may be affected should Duterte make good on his threat is the partnership between the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the PRC for COVID-19 testing, which has brought down the cost of tests from the humanitarian organization to the cheapest in the market.
   
• Duterte also refused to categorically advise against the use of ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19, even as he acknowledged that there is scant evidence to support it for this use.