The Department of Health (DOH) recorded 9,216 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, April 8, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 828,366.
The country’s total active COVID-19 cases or the people who are currently sick with the coronavirus is 167,279.
The DOH also reported 598 more patients who have recovered from the illness, bringing the total to 646,948, while the death toll climbed to 14,119 with 90 new fatalities.
The World Health Organization said that it is anxious about the COVID-19 situation in the Philippines and the country’s healthcare capacity which is now nearing the red line.
“We are concerned about the situation in the Philippines,” Dr. Takeshi Kasai, regional director of WHO Western Pacific, said.
“We’re concerned because the surge is really continuing and moving toward the so-called red line when the number of cases exceeds or surpasses the capacity of healthcare,” he added.
Kasai cited several factors on why the Philippines is experiencing a surge–including the presence of variants of concern, noncompliance to minimum public health standards, increased mobility for nonessential gatherings, and movement of unsuspecting asymptomatic patients in their 20s to 40s.
The WHO said that the Philippine government can improve the healthcare capacity by setting up temporary facilities to accommodate mild to moderate COVID-19 cases so intensive care units in hospitals can take care of critically-ill patients.
