Philippines reports 883 new COVID-19 cases
The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday reported less than 1,000 new coronavirus disease cases two days after Christmas celebration.
Based on its latest Case Bulletin, the DOH said 883 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, bringing the total cases to 469,886.
Highest number of cases came from Rizal with 66, followed by Quezon City with 50, Benguet with 47, Davao City with 42, and Manila City with 35.
The Health department attributed the low number of cases to the closure of several laboratories during the holidays.
"The decrease in cases over the holiday season is to be expected given the closure of many private laboratories for the holidays and the decrease in patients seen by those who remained open," it said.
Among the confirmed cases, 42 patients succumbed to the virus, bringing the total fatalities to 9,109 while 7, 635 patients have recovered, which brings the total to 438,678 COVID-19 recoveries.
The DOH said there were 22,099 active COVID-19 cases in the country.
Of the active cases, 80.2 percent were mild cases, 9.9 percent were asymptomatic, 6.2 percent were critical, 3.2 percent were severe, and 0.43 percent were moderate.
Following the travel ban imposed in the United Kingdom, the DOH is now considering imposing travel restrictions for travelers coming from Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, and Japan.
"We are considering a travel ban for areas or countries where there are reported community transmission caused by the new COVID-19 variant," said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
"These are the areas with recorded cases of the UK variant. We are currently monitoring these areas to confirm community transmission, which we set as the criteria in imposing travel bans," she added.
However, imposing travel restrictions cannot be immediately imposed as officials need to study it first.
According to acting World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in the Philippines Dr. Socorro Escalante, actions must be based on the level of evidence.
"Border restriction will have significant economic and humanitarian impact. Therefore, if we are going to decide on this very restrictive intervention, we really need to consider all dimensions," said Escalante.
On Saturday, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the extension of the flight prohibition from the UK for two more weeks after December 31. Ella Dionisio/DMS
