MANILA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Tuesday 4,437 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 631,320.
The death toll climbed to 12,848 after 11 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added that 166 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 560,736.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque has warned that the number of COVID-19 cases that the country experiences now is nearing the peak the country saw in July-August 2020 and may surpass that level if the transmission is not slowed down.
"We need to stop the trend because if not, we may even exceed the peak of cases in July-August last year," Duque said during a televised, pre-recorded meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night.
This time's coronavirus infection rate grows much faster compared with the past months, Beverly Ho, director of the DOH Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control Bureaus, said in a television interview on Tuesday.
Ho said that the emergence in the Philippines of the fast-spreading variants found in Britain, South Africa, and Brazil is driving the infection, adding "there is already evidence of increased transmissibility."
There are "cocktails of factors" that are driving the transmission, Ho added.
"We see that there are breaches in the health protocols, but also we cannot discount that the variants have an effect on the increase of transmission rate," Ho said.
On Monday night, Duterte told Filipinos not to despair over the COVID-19 pandemic, assuring them that the country can survive the pandemic. He also assured poor Filipinos that they would get their vaccines after the frontline medical workers.
"I will say to my countrymen that do not despair. We can handle this; this is nothing, something small. We have been through a lot worse, a lot harder, more painful - all of you, especially those in the squatter areas. Don't be afraid because we won't leave you behind," Duterte said in a pre-recorded public address on Monday night.
"Just wait," he said, adding, "This is a fight not only against COVID-19 but also against despair and hopelessness."
Duterte reassured poor Filipinos that they would be among the government's national vaccination program priorities after frontline healthcare workers and senior citizens.
The Philippines vaccinated nearly 216,000 Filipinos so far with Sinovac vaccine CoronaVac donated by China and AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX Facility. Enditem