A total of 14,749 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the Philippines in conjunction with the detection of the first case of Lambda variant in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said this Sunday.
The more than 14,700 new cases are the second-highest extra cases in the country since the pandemic began. In addition, 3 laboratories failed to submit data.
As a result, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 1,741,616, of which 102,748 were active cases or still ill.
According to the DOH, 270 more people died, the 5th highest number recorded in 1 day. This is also the third consecutive day that more than 200 new people have died.
In total, 30,340 people have died of COVID-19 in the Philippines.
The DOH recorded 10,720 new recoveries for 1,608,528 total recoveries.
Meanwhile, the DOH confirmed additional COVID-19 variants, including the very first case of the Lambda variant.
The Lambda variant was seen in a 35-year-old woman.
The DOH is still investigating whether the first case is a returning overseas Filipino.
According to the DOH, the woman was asymptomatic and recovered following the 10-day isolation period.
PH records first Lambda variant case, over 14K new COVID-19 cases
The Lambda variant was first recorded in Peru in August 2020 and was called a variant of interest by the World Health Organization in June.
It allegedly monitors its transmissibility or ability to infect.
There are also 182 Delta variant cases, of which 112 are local cases.
There are an additional 41 Alpha variants, first detected in the United Kingdom, while there are also an additional 66 Beta variants, first detected in South Africa.
To date, more than 15 million individuals have been vaccinated with their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
About 12.4 million have been fully vaccinated, or equivalent to 17.5 percent of the target population to be vaccinated.
About 20 to 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive in the Philippines this August and September.
Meanwhile, 469,200 additional doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines purchased by the government and the private sector arrived this Sunday.
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