The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday, Jan. 5, reported 10,775 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) nationwide.
The last time that the Philippines recorded a five-digit additional infections was on Oct. 10, 2021 with 12,159 cases then.
The total number of confirmed cases since 2020 increased to 2,871,745, of which, 1.4 percent or 39,974 people remain sick.
Most of the active cases or 33,866 have mild symptoms, 2,983 were in moderate condition, 1,512 were severe, 319 were critical, and 1,294 were asymptomatic.
The death toll also now reached 51,662 with 58 new fatalities. Meanwhile, the recovery tally jumped by 605 to 2,780,109.
Amid the rising number of cases and concerns about the different variants of coronavirus, the DOH once again reminded the public to get vaccinated and follow the minimum public health standards (MPHS).
“In line with the recent reports regarding alleged variants of COVID-19—Delmicron, Flurona, and IHU variants, the Department of Health would like to clarify that the World Health Organization (WHO) is the sole authority to validate these variants and to determine if it is a Variant under Monitoring (VUM), Variant of Interest (VOI), or Variant of Concern,” the agency said.
“Let us not be an agent of transmission because agents of transmission are also agents of mutations. Let’s do this by: get the jab done, both primary series and booster; strict adherence to MPHS; limit going out to work and/or getting essential goods only. Let us stop the transmission. Let us stop the mutations,” it added.
To note, health authorities had confirmed the presence of Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Lambda, Theta, and Omicron variants in the Philippines.