Amid the arrival of vaccines in the Philippines and the start of rollout of nationwide vaccination, the country was jarred by the biggest punch Covid-19 made by far.
For three straight days, the numbers were overwhelming–from over 9,000 to over 15,000 and over 12,000 on Saturday. The virus has practically hit everyone like a common cold.
On Saturday, the Philippines logged an additional 12,576 COVID-19 cases, the second highest single-day tally since the start of the pandemic, with active infections breaching the 165,000-mark, straining hospitals in virus hotspots. With the new cases, the country’s total number of infections went up to 784,043. It does not include, however, results from 7 laboratories that failed to submit data on time.
A this point, the country’s remaining active infections is at 165,715 and it is the highest in Southeast Asia. For the record, Saturday’s figures were the 5th-straight day that the number of active cases reached an all-time high. Of those who tested positive, 96.5 percent are experiencing mild symptoms while only 2.2 percent are asymptomatic of the disease based on the latest Department of Health (DOH) bulletin.
It is also worthy to note that so far, a total of 103 individuals succumbed to the virus, pushing the country’s death toll to 13,423 — it is the highest since Wednesday when the health department tallied 106 deaths.
Definitely, these are very worrisome numbers.
At this point, regardless of the rollout of vaccines — which may have also in part contributed to the complacency — the risk is still very high out there. And while people await for their turn to get inoculated, it is best to stay as safe as possible.
By that we mean, extreme observance to protocols.
Repeat, extreme observance. It’s the only way to go.
