COVID-19

PH logs 8,562 COVID-19 cases as threat of Delta variant looms

Bonz Magsambol

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PH logs 8,562 COVID-19 cases as threat of Delta variant looms

PANDEMIC-HIT PH. Hundreds of individuals troop to Quezon City Hall on Friday, July 30, for COVID-19 vaccination.

Darren Langit

(1st UPDATE) The reported cases on Friday bring total caseload in the country to 1,580,824

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday, July 30, reported 8,562 new COVID-19 cases, the highest since May 28, when 8,748 infections were recorded.

With the Friday tally the country’s total COVID-19 caseload was now at 1,580,824.

Of the total cases, 61,920 remain active or currently sick. This was also the highest since May 8, when 63,376 cases were reported

The death toll due to the infectious disease climbed to 27,722 after 145 new fatalities were recorded.

Meanwhile, recoveries are up by 2,854 raising the total recoveries to 1,491,182.

The DOH reported a positivity rate of 14.9% out of 52,623 tests in its bulletin. These positive cases are 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, said the department.

Metro Manila will return to a rigid lockdown mode from August 6 to 20, with a period of additional restrictions the week before, to prepare for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant.

The schedule of new restrictions for the National Capital Region are:

  • General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with heightened and additional restrictions – July 30 to August 5
  • Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) – August 6 to 20

Malacañang said that the decision to go back to a lockdown was “painful,” but had to be done due to the more transmissible nature of the feared Delta variant. Local transmission of the variant was confirmed last July 22.

The Philippines now has 216 known cases of the highly transmissible variant, but there are concerns that the actual number may be far higher, as the Philippine Genome Center is only sequencing a small percentage of the positive cases.

The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, is ravaging Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.

To prevent further local transmission of the Delta variant, the Philippine government has imposed travel bans from countries where it is widespread. – Rappler.com

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Bonz Magsambol

Bonz Magsambol covers the Philippine Senate for Rappler.