The Philippines logged another record daily high in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases as 28,707 new infections were confirmed on Sunday, Jan. 9.
Sunday’s new cases surpassed the previous record-high which was only logged on Saturday, Jan. 8, when 26,458 cases were reported.
The Department of Health (DOH) said that the running total of infections rose to 2,965,447. It was noted in the latest case update that 128,114 patients are still sick nationwide.
Of the active cases, 119,276 have mild symptoms, 4,213 have no symptoms, 309 are in critical condition, 1,465 are severe cases, and 2,851 are in moderate condition.
Also, 15 new deaths and 2,579 more recoveries were recorded. The recovery count and death toll increased to 2,785,183 and 52,150, respectively.
“Once you have symptoms, it is best to isolate yourself early, consult a doctor through telemed, then get tested to confirm what you have,” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
“The DOH reminds everyone to help in preventing the continuous increase of hospitalization by religiously adhering to health protocols and getting vaccinated. In these ways, we can also help our healthcare workers in their job,” she added.
Coronavirus variants
Amid concerns on the Omicron coronavirus variant, the DOH said that the Delta variant still remains as the most common lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in the Philippines. To note, SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.
“Of the 20,006 samples sequenced assigned with a lineage as of Jan. 3, 42.47 percent of samples were positive for the Delta variant,” said Vergeire.
“At present, the Delta variant remains to be the most transmissive variant,” she added.
The second common lineage of coronavirus in the country was Beta variant which represents 18.17 percent of the samples sequenced. Meanwhile, 15.84 percent were positive for Alpha variant, 0.21 percent were positive for Omicron, while 0.01 percent were positive for Gamma.
“While Omicron is a variant of concern, most of the circulating cases are caused by the previously identified variants,” said Vergeire.
“Regardless of the variants, we must remain vigilant and properly follow health protocols,” she added.