Philippines logs 3,574 new COVID-19 cases

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,574 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,619,633.

The DOH said 83 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country's death toll to 54,621.

The number of active cases dropped to 105,550 as the country's positivity rate fell to 16.3 percent.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his appeal to Filipinos to get the COVID-19 vaccine jabs, saying the country, which tallies an average of over 8,000 cases daily, is "not over the hump."

According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque, the country's COVID-19 risk remains moderate. However, he added that four regions in the southern Philippines remain at high risk.

"Our health care utilization rates range from low to moderate risk levels," Duque said during a meeting with Duterte aired late Monday night.

Infectious diseases specialist Edsel Salvana said the Omicron variant "is in full retreat in most regions."

"Metro Manila have peaked with steep downward epidemic curves. Most other regions have either plateaued or have peaked and are trending down," Salvana added.

The Philippines has seen four waves of infections since the outbreak in 2020. The country reported the highest single-day tally on Jan. 15 with 39,004 new cases. The country, which has around 110 million population, has tested nearly 26 million people. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )

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