Highest since last October: DOH
NEW coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases surged to 10,775 yesterday, nearly double the 5,434 new infections reported last Tuesday, while active cases also spiked to 39,974, according to the Department of Health.
In its latest bulletin, the DOH said the sudden spike was the highest in three months and did not include figures from nine laboratories that failed to submit data. The last time the country saw more than 10,000 cases was last October 10, when 12,159 new infections were reported.
Overall, the number of cases jumped to 2,871,745 while the death toll rose to 51,662, counting 58 more deaths due to the deadly virus. The case fatality rate in the country stands at 1.80 percent.
The current positivity rate in the Philippines stood at 31.7 percent among the 44,643 tested samples on January 3.
From 29,809 last Tuesday, active cases surged to 39,974, with over 33,800 mild cases and more than 2,900 moderate cases.
The DOH also reported 605 additional recoveries, bringing to 2,780,109 the number of survivors. The DOH said the recovery rate stood at 96.8 percent.
A total of 190 personnel of the Metro Rail Transit Line-3 (MRT3) and Philippine National Railways (PNR) tested positive for the deadly virus, according to Transportation Undersecretary for Railways TJ Batan.
Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) general manager Don Arte, meanwhile, said 82 personnel of the agency tested positive during swab tests done last Monday, with contact tracing now being conducted.
Batan said 696 personnel of MRT-3 were tested last Monday and 99 tested positive while 91 out of 354 PNR personnel tested yielded positive results.
“Antigen testing and confirmatory RT-PCR testing will continue for the rest of the week until all personnel are tested,” Batan said, adding they are conducting contact tracing.
He added the DOTr Railways Sector is assuring the public that needed measures, including the testing of all rail personnel, are being taken to make sure the virus will not spread in trains, stations, and depots.
MRT-3 Director for Operations Michael Capati said physical reporting in the depot is limited to 60 percent, pursuant to the Alert Level 3 guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (IIATF-EID).
Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. announced that he tested positive for the dreaded virus for the second time.
“This morning (Wednesday) I received the results of my test, which revealed that I am COVID-positive,” he said. “Even prior to the release of the test, efforts were already undertaken to reach out to those I have been in close contact with the past several days.
They have now been informed of my results and have been advised to self-quarantine and to monitor themselves for symptoms.”
The lawmaker urged everyone, especially senior citizens like him, to get vaccinated and to get their booster shots, especially with the rising number of COVID cases in the country.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier revealed that an estimated 1.5 million senior citizens remain unvaccinated, a figure that Abante called “disturbing given how science and experience have already established how vulnerable this sector is to COVID.”
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and peace adviser and concurrent vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. were also under quarantine after being exposed to people positive for the coronavirus.
The three attended the weekly meeting and Talk to the People address of President Duterte on Tuesday night via Zoom.
Presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo Lacson will not be seen in public for a couple of days after he was advised to rest after being exposed to his son who has tested positive for COVID-19.
In a radio interview, Partido Reporma president and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez said Lacson, the party’s standard bearer, has cancelled his scheduled activity in his hometown on January 10 to enable him to recover from sore throat and other symptoms.
“I already texted Sen. Ping because we have a scheduled activity here in the province on January 10. But it would be very risky (for him to travel) because he was exposed to a COVID-positive (patient), so I told him to recover and just rest for the meantime,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said Lacson held a meeting with ranking party officials and other members of his campaign team at their headquarters in Greenhills, San Juan last Monday. He later experienced symptoms associated with the virus.
In a message to the media late Tuesday, Lacson said he underwent swab testing early that day after “I got exposed to my son last Sunday,” whose positive COVID-19 result was known Monday night. He said their maid and driver also tested positive.
Lacson said he has isolated himself as a precautionary measure and informed his close contacts to also do the same.
Before being directly exposed to his son, Lacson instructed his party mates and members of his campaign team to defer their scheduled public engagements amid the sharp increase in the number of infected individuals. — With Raymond Africa, Wendell Vigilia, Jocelyn Montemayor, and Noel Talacay
