The Philippines’ number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases swelled up to 21,819, the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Friday, Jan. 7.
The last time that the Philippines recorded more than 20,000 cases was on Sept. 26, 2021, when 20,755 cases were reported.
Friday’s cases brought the number of active infections nationwide to 77,369. Meanwhile, the running total of cases reached 2,910,664 since the pandemic started.
Of the active cases, 70,321 patients were experiencing mild symptoms, 2,837 were in moderate condition, 1,461 were severe, 312 were critical, and 2,438 were asymptomatic.
Meanwhile, the number of survivors went up by 973, bringing the total to 2,781,424.
The death count jumped to 51,871 after 129 new fatalities were confirmed on Friday, the DOH said.
Long wait for COVID-19 test result
With the increasing number of cases, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire acknowledged that there is a long wait before an individual can get his COVID-19 RT-PCR test result.
“Talaga po na tumatagal ngayon ang paglabas ng mga laboratory test natin dahil doon sa biglang demand dahil ang dami pong nagkakasakit (It's really taking longer for laboratory test results to be released due to sudden demand as many people are getting sick),” said Vergeire during the Malacanang press briefing on Friday.
Another factor is some health workers manning the laboratories are also contracting COVID-19, said Vergeire.
“Kahit hindi niyo pa narereceive ang inyong laboratory test at kayo po ay may sintomas or na expose, kailangan at pinakaimportante ay mag isolate tayo para hindi na makapanghawa sa iba (Even if you have not yet received your laboratory test result and you have symptoms or was exposed , it is necessary that you isolate immediately so that you can no longer infect others) and we can cut the transmission in our communities,” she noted.
Restrictions
Amid the imposition of a stricter alert level in some areas of the country, it does not guarantee that the number of cases will start to decline in the coming days, said Vergeire. She reiterated the importance of following the health protocols.
“Hindi po (It’s not) certain that we can be able to stop the transmission all at once ng ganun kabilis (so quickly). Tandaan po natin (Let us remember), the virus has this incubation period of two weeks,” she said.
“Kung tayo po lahat ay nagtutulong-tulong aside from the restrictions that we are imposing, nandyan yung posibilidad (If we all work together aside from the restrictions that we are imposing, there is a possibility) that we can stop further the increase in cases in the coming weeks,” she added.
The government placed Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna under Alert Level 3 until Jan. 15 due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.