The Philippines' daily COVID19 cases topped 20,000 for the second time in a week on Friday, underscoring the severity of the surge fueled by the hyper-contagious Delta variant.
The 20,310 new cases for the day fell short of the the record-high 22,366 tallied on Aug. 30. This brought the number of active cases to 158,994 and the cumulative total since the pandemic began to 2,040,568.
There were 193 deaths and 7,710 recoveries reported Friday, bringing the totals to 33,873 and 1,847,701 respectively.
Metro Manila and other high-risk areas are under MECQ until Sept. 7 as authorities look to recalibrate pandemic response to allow for the safe reopening of more businesses.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday cleared Moderna for emergency use on 12 to 17 year olds as more young Filipinos get infected with the Delta, now the dominant variant in the country.
Reportr is now on Quento. Download the app or visit the Quento website for more articles and videos from Reportr and your favorite websites.
