(FILE) Healthcare workers in Ilocos Sur get swab samples to test individuals for COVID-19. (Photo courtesy of Vigan city government)
MANILA, Philippines — The number of active COVID-19 cases in the country jumped to 17,374 as the Department of Health (DOH) logged 3,617 new cases on New Year’s Eve, Saturday.
This brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines to over 2.8 million, according to the DOH’s daily bulletin.
The health department likewise recorded 468 new recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to over 2.7 million.
Meanwhile, 43 more individuals succumbed to the disease, raising the country’s COVID-19 death toll to 51,545.
The Philippines is currently seeing a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases, prompting the government to place its capital region, Metro Manila, under a stricter alert level in a bid to curb mobility and the rise of cases.
Malacañang earlier attributed the “exponential” increase in COVID-19 cases to increased mobility during the holiday season as well as the presence of the highly contagious Omicron COVID-19 variant.
Health authorities detected three local cases of the Omicron variant signifying that there is a “high possibility” of local transmission in the country.