The Philippines once again broke its record of highest single-day coronavirus disease (COVID-19) tally after 34,021 new cases were confirmed on Thursday, Jan. 13.
The latest daily count surpassed the 33,169 cases only recorded last Monday, Jan. 10.
The new cases brought the total number of active infections nationwide to 237,387, based on the data of the Department of Health (DOH).
The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were still Metro Manila, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon. The Philippines already confirmed 3,092,409 cases since the start of the pandemic.
Of the active cases, 7,332 are asymptomatic, 225,408 are mild, 2,881 are moderate, 1,468 are severe, and 298 are critical.
The tally of recoveries reached 2,802,286 with 4,694 new survivors. On the other hand, 82 more deaths were recorded, raising the death toll to 52,736.
Over 1,000 daily calls at One Hospital Command Center
The country's COVID-19 referral center has been receiving more than 1,000 calls daily amid the spike in cases, said DOH Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega.
“Ang current po namin nakakatanggap na kami ng more than 1,120 calls (We are currently receiving more than 1,120 calls),” he said.
Vega said that the One Hospital Command Center (OHCC) was only receiving 98 to 112 calls per day last December.
However, Vega noted that the calls they were receiving were quite different as compared to the previous COVID-19 surges.
He said that 60 percent of the calls currently were inquiries about quarantine or isolation facilities or asking assistance for home isolation.
“Iyong September of last year, ang number of calls namin ay talagang referrals sa mga hospital for intensive care units especially iyong mga nagkaka-problema din in terms of the distribution of oxygen supply at that time (In September of last year, the number of calls was actually referrals to hospitals for intensive care units especially those who are also having problems in terms of the distribution of oxygen supply at that time),” he said.
“Ito ngayong January, nakita natin iyong mga tawag mostly on the isolation facilities, home isolation at saka kukonti na iyong (hospital) referrals namin. Nasa mga 15 percent iyong referrals namin for the hospital and for the intensive care unit services (This January, the calls are mostly on the isolation facilities, home isolation and then we have fewer referrals. We have about 15 percent for hospital referrals and for the intensive care unit services),” he noted.