863 COVID Cases Logged as PH Reopens to Foreign Arrivals

The Philippines on Friday tallied 863 new COVID-19 cases, the second lowest for 2021, as the country prepared to welcome fully vaccinated international travelers without quarantine.

The day's tally brought active cases to 17,853. The Department of Health also reported 791 new recoveries and 142 deaths. The lowest single day tally for 2021 of 849 was recorded on Nov. 16.

Overall, a total of 2,830,387 COVID-19 cases have been reported since the pandemic began in March 2020, of which 2,764,517 recovered and 47,875 died.

A total of 17 duplicates were removed from the case count, 16 of which are recoveries. There were also 77 cases were found to have tested negative and have been removed from the total case count. Some 128 recoveries reclassified as deaths after final validation.

From Dec. 1 to 15, fully vaccinated travelers from Green List countries may enter the Philippines and skip the quarantine and RT-PCR testing on arrival. They will still have to present proof of vaccination and a negative RT-PCR test result 72 hours before the flight.

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