The Philippines on Wednesday logged 370 new COVID-19 cases, as the country stays on guard against the threat of the COVID Omicron variant.
The day's tally brought active cases to 12,510, with a total of 859 new recoveries and 171 new deaths reported.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Philippines has reported a total of 2,835,593 COVID-19 cases of which 2,773,322 recovered and 49,791 died.
Of the 171 reported deaths, only six occurred in December. According to the Department of Health, 19% of deaths logged occurred in November and were encoded only now due to system errors.
Alert Level 2 restrictions for Metro Manila are set to expire on Dec. 15. While cases are on the decline, the public is strongly encouraged to avoid buffets and social gatherings over the holidays to prevent a surge.
The Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa, remains undetected in the Philippines. Neighboring Southeast Asian nations Malaysia and Thailand have detected the new variant this week.
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