Philippines logs record-high 8,019 new COVID-19 cases, total soars to 671,792

The Philippines on Monday reported another record high of 8,019 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total tally to 671,792, as two laboratories failed to submit data on time.

This is the highest daily case count reported since the pandemic began.

The Department of Health said this brought the total active cases in the country to 80,970, also this year’s highest.

Of this, 95.4% are mild, 2.2% are asymptomatic, 0.9% are critical, and 1% are in severe condition.

Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries also climbed to 577,850 after 103 more patients recovered from the viral disease.

The death toll rose to 12,972 with four new fatalities.

The DOH said 21 duplicates were removed from the total case count.

Data from the DOH also showed that 53% of the country’s intensive care unit beds and 32% of the mechanical ventilators are utilized.

The country is seeing a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases, which the DOH said is being driven by new coronavirus variants and relaxed adherence to health protocols.

Earlier in the day, the DOH said two coronavirus variants of concern are now present in all cities in Metro Manila.

The country has so far detected the B.1.1.7 (UK variant) in 223 cases, the B.1.351 (South Africa variant) in 152 cases, and the P.1 (Brazil variant) in one case.

A new coronavirus variant called P.3 was also recently discovered in the Philippines. It has been seen in over 100 cases.

In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, the national government has temporarily banned non-essential travel to and from Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

The OCTA Research group has said new cases could reach up to 20,000 daily if the surge is not contained.—LDF, GMA News