PHL COVID cases spike to over 98k, with all-time high single-day jump of 4,963 new cases

Courtesy DOH

(Eagle News) — The country’s COVID-19 cases spiked to 98,232 on Saturday, August 1, with the addition of a new record-high of 4,963 new cases, the latest data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.

Cases continued to rise fast. On Thursday, July 31, additional cases were 4,063, and the previous day, new cases were 3,954. The health care system is increasingly compromised as COVID-19 beds, particularly in Metro Manila, are almost occupied with patients.

In the Philippine capital, ICU beds for COVID-19 patients are 79 percent full; isolation beds are 81 percent full; while ward beds are 87 percent occupied.

Courtesy DOH

Active cases as of Saturday were at 30,928. Metro Manila has most of the new active cases at 2,667, followed by Cavite with 405 cases; Cebu with 355 cases; Laguna with 324 cases; and Rizal with 252 cases. These came from data submitted by 74 out of 94 laboratories.

New recoveries added were only 93 bringing the total to 65,265. Deaths added on Saturday were 17, bringing the total number of COVID-19 fatalities to 2,039.

Courtesy DOH

As cases continued to overwhelm the country’s health system, health care workers called for a return to stricter quarantine protocols.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III promised to present the health care workers’ concerns to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

(Eagle News Service)