564 COVID Cases Logged as Philippines Extends National Vaccination Days

The Philippines on Thursday logged 564 new COVID-19 cases as the country extended national vaccination days to Dec. 3 to immunize more Filipinos as the world races to contain the Omicron variant.

The day's tally brought active cases to 15,188, with a total of 694 new recoveries and 40 new deaths reported.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Philippines has reported a total of  2,833,473 COVID-19 cases of which 2,7689,533 recovered and 48,752 died.

A total of six duplicates were removed from the case count, five of which are recoveries. Another 123 cases were found to have tested negative and have been removed from the total case count and moved as recoveries.

There were 32 cases tagged as recoveries and reclassified as deaths after final validation.

Metro Manila will remain under Alert Level 2, the second lowest classification under a five-step system, until Dec. 15 even as the world races to contain the new Omicron variant.

The first leg of the government's national vaccination program aimed to vaccinate 9 million Filipinos. Based on initial reports, 7,628,432 doses were administered during the three-day program, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said during the Laging Handa press briefing on Thursday.

Some local officials asked for an extension. If approved, authorities are looking to conduct the second leg on Dec. 15 to 17.

MORE ON OMICRON VARIANT:

Omicron Variant: What Governments Must Do to Address It

What is the Omicron Variant That's Got the World Worried?

World Races to Contain Omicron COVID-19 Variant