Philippines records highest number of daily cases

The Philippines recorded the highest daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, with 9,838 more confirmed by the Department of Health.

The government aimed to reduce the number of cases by 25 percent or more at the end of the implementation of the two-week general community quarantine in the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Monday.

Manila imposed a two-week evening curfew last week after a new surge in cases of coronavirus infection.

Authorities have blamed public complacency a year into the pandemic for the surge in cases, specifically in metropolitan Manila.

With hospitals and quarantine facilities slowly filling up with COVID-19 patients, the Department of Health yesterday said they are looking to establish more modular hospitals adjacent to healthcare facilities.

In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said they are eyeing modular hospitals as one of the ways that they can decongest hospitals from COVID-19 patients.

He said they have already established a 110-bed modular hospital beside the Quezon Institute and is ready to open on April 8.

The Philippines has reported more than 702,856 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 13,149 deaths, the second-highest totals in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.