The Philippines on Thursday logged 1,623 COVID-19 infections, almost double that of the day before and the highest since Nov. 21, bringing the number of active cases beyond the 11,000 mark before New Year's eve.
The day's tally quadrupled December's range of 300 to 400 new daily infections. It was the highest since Nov. 21, when the country recorded 2,227 cases.
The day's tally brought active cases to 11,772, with a total of 256 new recoveries and 133 new deaths reported.
Overall, a total of 2,841,260 COVID-19 cases have been reported since the pandemic began in March 2020, of which 2,778,115 have recovered and 51,373 died.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier Thursday kept the entire Philippines under Alert Level 2 until Jan. 15, as the rest of the world moved to arrest the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant.
Twin outbreaks of the Delta and Omicron variants have resulted in a "tsunami" of COVID infections, with 6.55 million cases tallied by Agence France-Presse over a seven-day period. In the U.S., daily cases have reached new records.
According to the World Health Organization, the Omicron variant poses high risks despite reports of asymptomatic to mild cases. What it may lack in severity compared to the Delta variant is made up for in its transmissibility.
"Consistent evidence shows that the Omicron variant has a growth advantage over the Delta variant with a doubling time of two to three days and rapid increases in the incidence of cases is seen in a number of countries," the United Nations health agency said.
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