The Philippines reported 21,819 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,910,664.
The Department of Health (DOH) said the country's positivity rate for coronavirus tests rose to 40 percent, and 129 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country's death toll to 51,871.
Ten laboratories failed to submit data on Friday. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that COVID-19 testing laboratory staff have also contracted the virus, affecting the daily operations and causing delays in the reporting of testing data.
The government will tighten the coronavirus rules in 14 more areas across the country from Jan. 9 to 15 as part of its efforts to contain the fast-spreading infections fueled by the Delta and Omicron variants.
Since Monday, the government has tightened restrictions in Metro Manila, the region with the most active and new cases, and its adjacent provinces.
“To contain the spread of the Omicron variant, the government is taking a proactive step back by shifting to alert level 3 (on a scale of 5) while allowing the rest of the economy to operate safely,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said.
Chua said business establishments and public transport “will remain operational at lower capacities.”
The inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) estimated that the shift to alert level 3 in Metro Manila and nearby areas will result in a gross value added loss of about 3 billion pesos (about 58.4 million U.S. dollars) per week.
“We believe this is a temporary setback and is a necessary adjustment in view of the new COVID variant,” the DBCC said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has urged people to get COVID-19 shots amid the growing threat of the Omicron variant, warning that those unvaccinated will not be allowed to go out of their homes.
The Philippines, which has around 110 million people, has fully vaccinated more than 51 million people since the launch of vaccination in March last year. (Xinhua)
