The Philippines on Thursday reported 8,920 new COVID-19 cases as the combined effects of a lockdown and Holy Week kept millions indoors, which authorities hope will help cap a worrying surge in infections.
The Holy Thursday tally brought the total number of active cases to 138,948. The Philippines has a cumulative total of 756, 199 cases. There were six new deaths and 205 new recoveries, the DOH said.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 is scheduled to meet on Black Saturday to decide whether or not the ECQ or Enhanced Community Quarantine in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal will be extended beyond Easter Sunday.
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The ECQ in the so-called NCR Plus bubble requres most of the 24 million people in the country's economic hub to stay indoors, except when buying food and medicine and for limited on-site work.
New infections, blamed on virus variants, have pushed daily case loads past the 2020 peaks and hospitals are getting overwhelmed, putting pressure on the government to speed up its vaccination program.
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