MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines on Monday, January 3, reported 4,084 new COVID-19 cases, the second straight day that the country logged over 4,000 infections.

Monday’s cases bring the country’s total caseload to 2,855,819. Of these, 0.9% or 24,992 are active or currently sick. The total number of active cases is also the highest since November 16, when 25,464 were reported.

The Department of Health (DOH) also recorded 16 deaths. The total death toll due to COVID-19 in the country increased to 51,586.

Meanwhile, recoveries were up by 497 for a total of 2,779,241.

The DOH said deaths due to COVID-19 continue to decline as more people get vaccinated against the deadly virus.

The DOH reported a positivity rate of 20.7% out of 18,587 tests in its bulletin. These positive cases were added to the tally of confirmed cases only after further validation. This process helps ensure cases would not be recorded in duplicate, and that all test results had been submitted, explained the department.

A positivity rate of 20.7% means that one in five people tested turned out positive for COVID-19.

The DOH said two testing laboratories were not operational on Saturday, January 1, while 21 others were not able to submit their data on time. The cases reflected in the bulletin were based on tests conducted two days ago.

As cases continue to climb, the Philippines is again deemed “high risk” for COVID-19 by the DOH.

The spike in cases comes as the Philippines recorded a total of 14 cases of the Omicron variant, with three of these local cases. Experts have said that Omicron is the most transmissible coronavirus variant, so far. – Rappler.com