All-time high: Philippines logs a record 7,103 new COVID-19 cases

The Department of Health has reported 7,103 new COVID-19 cases Friday, the highest single-day increase since the pandemic started over a year ago.

This is also the first time for new daily cases to hit the 7,000 mark.

The country’s positivity rate, which has been steadily increasing since December, reached 15 percent, the highest since the country’s peak at 17 percent in April 2020. The World Health Organization recommends that the positivity rate should remain below five percent for at least two weeks before governments consider reopening.

Today’s figures, which surpassed last year’s highest record of cases at 6,861 on Aug. 10, 2020, bring the country’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 648,066.

There are currently 73,264 total active cases and 12,900 deaths.