MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health on Monday reported 24,938 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 3,442,056.
Of the newly reported cases, 97% occurred from January 11 to 24. The regions with the highest number of additional infections during that period were Metro Manila (15%), Calabarzon (14%) and Central Visayas (11%).
The country’s death toll rose by 47 to 53,519, while recoveries increased by 35,461 to 3,125,540.
The number of active cases was down to 262,997, of which 95% had mild illness.
According to the DOH, 40.6% of 59,896 samples on January 22 tested positive for COVID-19, way above the threshold set by the World Health Organization.
Five testing laboratories did not submit data to the agency.
Daily cases hit record highs this month following the detection of local cases of the hyper-contagious Omicron variant.
Metro Manila’s cases have peaked
- COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, the epicenter of the surge fueled by the Omicron variant, have peaked already, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
- The DOH said the new compensation system for healthcare workers aims to “streamline everything and make transactions more efficient.”
- Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines criticized what it said were “discriminatory, segregationist, and unconstitutional” measures proposed by the government’s pandemic task force.
- Health authorities in the Philippines have yet to detect a sub-variant of Omicron, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
— Gaea Katreena Cabico