MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Tuesday recorded 9,296 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 741,181.
- Active cases: 124,680 or 16.8% of the total
- Recoveries: 103, pushing total to 603,310
- Deaths: 5, bringing total to 13,191
What's new today?
- The Department of Health has recommended extending the implementation of enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces — NCR+— for another week to slow down the surge in COVID-19 cases.
- President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night announced that provinces outside the NCR+ bubble in the country will revert to stricter quarantine status in April as he admitted that the Philippines is almost "back to zero" in its pandemic response.
- Duterte on Monday night also announced that he will allow private firms to import COVID-19 vaccines themselves but the existing requirement to enter into tripartite deals with the national government will likely continue to slow the acquisition of the badly-needed jabs, senators warned.
- Commuters in the NCR+ bubble will find themselves stranded in the coming days with other transportation modes going into maintenance, the national police warned.
- The transportation department has rolled out free rides on public utility vehicles on 44 routes for authorized persons outside residences or essential workers.
— Bella Perez-Rubio with a report from Xave Gregorio