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NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH

7,999 new COVID-19 cases bring Philippine total to over 656,000


Just a day after the Philippines reported its highest case increase in a single day, the country once again set a new record with 7,999 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, bringing the total to 656,056, even as six laboratories failed to submit data on time.

On Friday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 7,103 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily case count reported since the pandemic began.

The DOH said this brought the total active cases in the country to 80,642, also this year’s highest.

Of this, 94.4 percent are mild, 3.1 percent are asymptomatic, 1 percent are severe, and 0.9 percent are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, total recoveries climbed to 562,484 with 597 new ones while 30 new fatalities brought the death toll to 12,930.

Nine duplicate cases were removed from the total case count.

“Moreover, 10 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the DOH said.

Data from the DOH also showed that 50 percent of the country’s intensive care unit beds are available while 32 percent of the mechanical ventilators are ready for use.

The OCTA Research group has said the Philippines could see 11,000 new COVID-19 cases daily by the end of March.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III admitted that the Philippine government didn't expect COVID-19 cases to increase the way they have been doing over the past several days after some restrictions were eased to kickstart the economy.

Health care workers have called for Duque’s resignation following the rise in cases among nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers.

At present, the Philippines has reported 104 P.3 variant cases, 223 B.1.1.7 (UK) variant cases, and 152 B.1.351 variant cases. — DVM, GMA News

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