By
The SUN
 |
| Empty pews in a Phl church attest to the new surge in infections (AP photo) |
Good Friday was an extra sad day for the predominantly
Catholic Philippines, as the country posted a record 15,310 new Covid-19 cases
today, Apr 2, bringing the total number of infections to 771,497.
The unprecedented figure was posted on the fifth day
of an extreme lockdown imposed on Metro Manila and the four adjacent provinces
of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna.
 |
| PRESS FOR DETAILS |
Officials from the Department of Health said 3,709 of
today’s cases are backlogs from Mar 31 due to uploading issues, which explained
the unusually low tally of 6,128 for that day.
But today’s remaining 11,601 still make up the biggest
daily tally since the pandemic broke out in the country early last year.
 |
| PRESS FOR DETAILS |
The new surge pushed the total number of active cases
to 153,809, representing 19.9% of all infections.
But there were 434 new recoveries, raising the total
to 604,368.
Another 17 people succumbed to Covid-19 today, pushing
the death toll to 13,320.
 |
| Pindutin para sa detalye |
The record rises in infections, coupled with the
increasing number of patients found with the highly infections coronavirus
variant, has caused at least two countries to restrict the entry of people
flying in from the Philippines.
In Hong Kong where the recent daily tally of imported
cases always included at least one new arrival from the Philippines who
invariably also had the mutated virus, there is a growing clamor to halt travel
from the country.
 |
| Call now! |
But health officials said Friday that the strict
21-day quarantine for all new arrivals from abroad (except from Singapore,
Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Macau and the rest of China) will suffice for now.
 |
| UK will ban all non-residents flying in from the Philippines starting Apr 9 |
 |
| Pindutin para sa detalye |
Visitors who have departed of transited through the countries in the last 10 days will be banned entry starting at 4am, U.K. time, on Apr 9.
Exempted passengers who are allowed to enter the U.K.
will be required to submit to coronavirus testing on or before the second day
of their quarantine, and again on or after the eighth day.
 |
| CALL US! |
“[T]hey will not be
allowed to shorten their quarantine period on receipt of a negative test
result. They will also not be able to end their managed quarantine early
through the Test to Release scheme,” an advisory from the British government
said.
In Ireland, the
Philippines was included among 26 countries that will be subjected to mandatory
hotel quarantine on arrival starting 4 am on Apr 6, the only Asian state to be
included in the list.
 |
| Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong |
Travelers from these countries will have to show a hotel booking for their 14-day quarantine, on top of a negative result for a Covid-19 test conducted 72 hours before their flight.
 |
| BASAHIN ANG DETALYE |
 |
| CALL ME! |
