Philippines marks daily record for Covid-19 cases
The Philippines reported 9,838 coronavirus cases on Friday, the biggest daily jump since the pandemic began, as the World Bank called for vaccinations to be a priority to limit further deaths and support the country’s health system.
Complicating the government’s vaccination drive is the reluctance of most Filipinos to receive vaccines due to safety fears, an opinion poll showed, despite wide-scale worries about contracting the virus.
A recent spike in infections has forced authorities to widen tighter restrictions in the capital Manila to surrounding provinces, but once-a-day religious services with up to 10 per cent of a church’s capacity will be allowed in the week ahead of Easter.
The Philippines, which is facing the second worst outbreak of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia after Indonesia, has seen record new cases in three of the past five days, while infections reported in the past 10 days accounted for a tenth of its total 702,856 cases.
Deaths increased to 13,149, after 54 more casualties were recorded on Friday, the health ministry said.
