The Philippines on Friday logged its highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began last year, recording at least 7,103 new infections and bringing the total number of cases in the country to 648,066.
This developed as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo announced that Gamaleya’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine has been granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) also on Friday.
The Philippines adds to a growing list of countries to grant emergency approval to the Russian jab, which has shown 91.6 percent efficacy in clinical trials.
“The vaccine shall be administered only by vaccination providers, and used only to prevent Covid-19 in individuals aged 18 years and older,” Domingo said.
Sputnik V is approved for use in 52 countries with total population of over 1.4 billion people. The jab ranks second among coronavirus vaccines globally in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.
Sputnik V, if was gathered, could be stored in a conventional refrigerator, thus eliminating the need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.
Record-high cases
The additional cases surpassed the previous record set at 6,598 on August 10 last year.
As of 4 p.m. of March 19, 2021, the Department of Health (DOH) also recorded 390 recoveries and 13 deaths.
Of the total number of cases, 11.3 percent (73,264) are active cases, 86.7 percent (561,902) have recovered, and 1.99 percent (12,900) perished.
Five laboratories were not able to submit their data to the Covid-19 Document Repository System on March 18, 2021.
With the highest number of cases recorded, the DOH strongly urged the public anew to adhere with the minimum public health standards.
“Just continue to stay at home and only go out when necessary,” the DOH told the public.
The OCTA Research Team earlier warned that Covid-19 cases could reach as high as 11,000 new infections per day by the end of March 2021.
If not mitigated, the group said, it could overwhelm hospitals with 100 percent occupancy of all beds by that period.
‘Circuit breaker’ measures
The government has activated its “circuit breaker” measures and restricted business operations and inbound airline travel amid the record rise in cases.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) issued Resolution 103, imposing the said measures in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) to limit public movement.
“There is no lockdown, which is the notion of a circuit breaker as applied in Singapore. But we recalled [the orders] opening our industries,” Roque said during an online news briefing on Friday.
Mass gathering restrictions
Under Resolution 103, the government temporarily suspended the operations of driving schools, traditional cinemas, video and interactive game arcades, libraries, archives, museums, and cultural centers, limited social events, and accredited establishments of the tourism department were also temporarily suspended until April 4, 2021.
Meanwhile, the IATF also limited the number of participants for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibits events, as well as religious gatherings to 30 percent of venue capacity.
For religious gatherings, the number of participants could be increased to 50 percent based on the suitability of their localities.
The number of clients in dine-in restaurants, cafes, and personal care services were also reduced to 50 percent capacity.
IATF also suspended cockfighting in both GCQ and modified GCQ areas.
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