The Philippines on Friday reported over 7,000 COVID-19 cases, an all-time high for the country since the start of the pandemic, emphasizing the need to arrest a fresh surge in infections that threatens to overwhelm the healthcare system.
The Department of Health tallied 7,103 new cases Friday, the highest daily total since the start of the pandemic, beating the previous single-day increase of 6,958 new COVID-19 cases on Aug. 10, 2020.
The fresh infections bring the total active COVID-19 cases to 73,264.
Since the start of the pandemic last year, the country has reported a total of 648,066 COVID-19 cases. The death toll stood at 12, 900 with 13 new reported fatalities. There were 390 new recoveries, bringing the total to 561,902.
For the past weeks, the Philippines has been seeing a renewed surge of infections that mirror numbers from August 2020, when the government was forced to revert Metro Manila to MECQ, the second set of highest restrictions. A research group said 8,000 daily cases was possible if the trend persists.
The surge in infections and the threat of new virus variants has prompted the government to reimplement stricter COVID-19 protocols such as barring the entry of foreign nationals until April.
Metro Manila, where the surge is centered, has implemented a two-week curfew to limit foot traffic outdoors in a bid to curb virus transmission.
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