MANILA, Philippines — The total number of coronavirus infections in the Philippines reached 464,004 two days before Christmas after the Department of Health reported 1,196 new cases.
Wednesday’s tally did not include the results from eight testing laboratories which failed to submit their reports on time.
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The highest daily rise was seen in Quezon City with 123 cases, followed by Rizal with 84, Manila City with 74, Davao City with 54 and Batangas with 49.
The number of COVID-19 survivors increased to 429,972 after 564 more patients recovered from the illness.
The DOH also recorded 27 new fatalities due to the respiratory disease, raising the death toll to 9,048.
Excluding recoveries and deaths, the number of active cases stands at 24,984 or 5.4% of the country’s confirmed cases.
Of these, 81.8% have mild symptoms, 9.5% are asymptomatic, 5.5% are in critical condition, 2.9% are severe cases and 0.32% exhibit moderate symptoms.
President Rodrigo Duterte approved the suspension of flights from the United Kingdom beginning 12 a.m. of December 24 to December 31 amid concerns over a new and seemingly more contagious variant of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Those who are already in transit and will arrive in the Philippines before the start of the temporary travel ban are exempted from entry restrictions but they are required to undergo more stringent quarantine and testing protocols.
The measure also seeks to curb the anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases during the holiday season.
The DOH said that although the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine had not detected any new variant of the coronavirus, it would ramp up the surveillance of circulating strains.
The OCTA Research Team said Metro Manila, epicenter of the country's outbreak, is now experiencing the early stages of a spike in infections. The group stressed that the situation in the capital region is still manageable but urged all sectors to "work together most closly" to limit the spread of new cases.
Global COVID-19 cases have reached nearly 78 million, including 1.7 million deaths.