The country logged 11,021 new COVID-19 cases Saturday— the highest daily record since April—as the Department of Health admitted that the two-week Enhanced Community Quarantine will not be able to stop the surge, likely driven by the more transmissible Delta variant.
The fresh cases—the second consecutive day that the 10,000 mark was breached—brought the total to 1,649,341, with 162 new fatalities.
Active cases stood at 76,063 active cases, also the highest since April 25.
In Quezon City, two hospitals – the Quezon City General Hospital and the Novaliches District Hospital – reported full-occupancy of their COVID beds.
The Philippine General Hospital said its COVID beds are now 75 percent occupied, with three minor patients in critical condition.
“Based on our last census Saturday morning, we have 169 confirmed COVID patients out of 225 allocated beds, So, that is roughly 75 percent occupancy,” PGH spokesman Jonas del Rosario said.
For the entire Metro Manila, DOH reported 59 percent of the ICU beds, 54 percent of the isolation beds, 53 percent of the ward beds, and 46 percent of the ventilators were in use.
Delta-driven surge
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the fresh surge could likely be driven by the Delta variant, which is at least 60 percent more transmissible than the original strain from Wuhan, China.
“We are now feeling the effect of the Delta variant in our country. Based on projections, cases will continue to rise,” she said.
She said the hard lockdown would only “delay further increase” but will “not be able to stop the surge.”
“We were able to update the projections. If we do the GCQ with heightened restrictions for one week and five weeks ECQ, we could get 15,000 active cases by the end of September,” she said, raising the possibility that the ECQ may be extended.
“We could see that even if we impose tougher classifications, we will still see a rise in the number of cases but the most important thing here is to prepare our system and vaccinate more people in the hope of having fewer severe infections,” Vergeire added.
1,848 curfew violators in NCR
Philippine National Police chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar on Saturday said a total of 1,848 have been apprehended breaking the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew in Metro Manila, which was placed under ECQ Friday.
Eleazar said 605 were given warnings, 1,235 were meted out with fines, and eight were tasked to do community service.
“The curfew is a big help to limit the movement of people,” he said.
Only authorized persons outside residence (APOR) are allowed to move around the region while under hard lockdown.
Bataan under ECQ
Bataan will be placed under ECQ starting today (Aug. 8) due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation to place Bataan under the strictest lockdown until August 22.
The province was initially placed under modified ECQ until August 15.