Record-high 7,103 COVID-19 cases push Philippines’ total to 648,066

The Philippines on Friday logged 7,103 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, the highest increase reported in a single day since the pandemic began, bringing the total to 648,066 even as five laboratories failed to submit data on time.

The previous highest record was at 6,958 on August 10, 2020.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), this brought the total active cases in the country to 73,264 cases, the highest this year.

Of this, 93.9 percent are mild, 3.3 percent are asymptomatic, 1.1 percent are severe, and 1 percent are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that 390 more patients have recovered from the illness, bringing the total to 561,902, while the death toll rose to 12,900 with 13 new fatalities.

Twenty-one duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count.

“Moreover, 4 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the Health Department said.

Data from the DOH also showed that 51 percent of the country’s intensive care unit beds are available while 69 percent of the mechanical ventilators are ready for use.

Experts from the OCTA Research group have asked Metro Manila mayors to consider stricter quarantine measures if the surge in COVID-19 cases will continue after two weeks.

The group earlier said the Philippines could see 11,000 new COVID-19 cases daily by the end of March.—LDF, GMA News