COVID-19 count crosses 50,000 mark with highest single-day spike in fresh cases

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has breached the 50,000 mark, after it recorded the highest single-day increase in fresh cases at 1,922 infections.

The Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 bulletin, released Wednesday night, said that the total number of cases is at 50,359 — of which 1,314 patients have died while 12,588 have recovered.

Aside from the fresh cases, another 617 late cases were also reported on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases for this day to 2,538 — which is also the highest single-day report of combined fresh and late cases.

Of the cases reported Wednesday, 1,066 or 42 percent came from the National Capital Region, while 443 or 17 percent came from Region 7, where Cebu City is located.

Meanwhile, 53 cases were removed from the total case count due to duplication.

DOH also noted an increase in cases within closed settings like the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), which has already registered 202 cases among its health workers.

New incidents of clustering of COVID-19 cases were reported in six new barangays inside Metro Manila, and one barangay each in Cebu City, Mandaue City, Palawan, and Albay.

As of Wednesday, there are 488 areas with reported clustering of COVID-19 cases — 379 of which are communities while 46 are health facilities, 24 jail centers, and 39 other areas. [ac]