MANILA, Philippines —The Philippines recorded 1,912 additional coronavirus infections on Thursday, pushing the total case count to 494,605.
According to the Department of Health’s (DOH) daily case bulletin, the total active cases rose to 25,614 or 5.2% of the overall tally.
Davao City recorded the most number of new cases with 136, followed by Quezon City with 107, Agusan del Sur with 61, Dagupan City with 57, and Cavite with 54.
The nationwide recovery count is now at 459,252, with the addition of 746 survivors. Meanwhile, the death count rose to 9,739 as 40 more patients succumbed to the viral illness.
Authorities announced Wednesday night that the new and more infectious coronavirus variant from the United Kingdom had been detected in a 29-year-old male from Quezon City who returned to the country from Dubai on January 7.
The patient’s close contacts have been isolated and will undergo COVID-19 testing.
The UK variant is associated with a higher viral load, meaning a greater concentration of virus particles in patients’ bodies, possibly contributing to increased transmission.
However, experts said no evidence yet suggests that it is deadlier than the original variant of the coronavirus disease.
If the UK variant becomes dominant in the Philippines, the country’s COVID-19 caseload may increase by 15 fold, a local disease expert earlier warned.