The Philippines on Friday logged a new all-time high for the second day straight with 37,207 new COVID-19 infections as Metro Manila's students and teachers go on health break to cope with surge of cases.
The day's tally brought active cases to 265,509, with a total of 9,027 new recoveries and 81 new deaths reported, data from the Department of Health showed. It broke the previous all-time high of 34,021 cases from the day before.Â
In the last seven days, all-time highs were broken for five non-consecutive days.
Overall, a total of 3,129,152 COVID-19 cases have been reported since the pandemic began in March 2020, of which 2,811,188 have recovered and 52,815 died.
Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila is extended until Jan. 31, with students on health break from Jan. 15 to 22 to help ease the mental and physical burden of the pandemic on student and staff, the Departmend of Education said Friday.
Students and teachers are encouraged to stay home during this time to minimize risk of catching the virus. The announcement on PTV made no distinction between private and public schools.
Calabarzon students will also go on health break from Jan. 17 to 29 to help learners cope with the COVID surge.
Limited face-to-face classes in the college level should start on Jan. 31 in Alert Level 3 areas, the Commission on Higher Education said, which should include college and university programs.
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