People crowd a street filled with stores as they shop in Manila on Feb 4, 2022. (TED ALJIBE / AFP)
HANOI / MANILA / YANGON – Philippine Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Friday that Metro Manila "is again back to moderate risk classification" amid surging COVID-19 cases in the capital region.
The Philippines reported 2,619 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,916,162.
The Department of Health said the number of active cases rose to 26,363, and 32 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 62,479.
Metro Manila, the capital region with over 13 million people, tallied 1,251 new cases. Vergeire said that infections increased in 11 areas in Metro Manila.
The Philippines reported its highest COVID-19 single-day tally of 39,004 new cases on Jan 15. The country, with a population of around 110 million, has fully vaccinated over 72.8 million people.
Myanmar
Eighty percent of people infected with COVID-19 in Myanmar between Jan 28 and Sept 7 are unvaccinated against the virus, the country's Ministry of Health said on Friday.
Myanmar has confirmed more than 80,000 new cases of COVID-19, and over 130 new deaths from COVID-19 during the country's fourth COVID-19 wave which started at the end of January this year, official data showed
Myanmar has confirmed more than 80,000 new cases of COVID-19, and over 130 new deaths from COVID-19 during the country's fourth COVID-19 wave which started at the end of January this year, official data showed.
The total number of infections from Jan 28 until Sept 7 included 80 percent of people who were not vaccinated, 15.9 percent of people who got the first doses of the vaccine, 4 percent of people who were fully vaccinated and 0.1 percent of people who received booster shots, the health ministry said.
The death toll from COVID-19 during the period consisted of 84.1 percent of people who were not vaccinated and who got only the first dose, 14.4 percent of people who were fully vaccinated and 1.5 percent of people who received booster shots, the ministry said.
As COVID-19 infection was on the rise again in the country starting from August, its health authorities have urged people to get booster shots and abide by the health guidelines issued by the ministry to curb the resurgence of COVID-19 infections.
In August, the country also reported COVID-19 cases with Omicron BA.2.75, BA.2.76, BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants after detecting the people who returned from abroad.
Yangon Region saw the highest number of COVID-19 infections, followed by Kayin State and Mandalay Region in the second place and third place respectively, its figures showed.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 3,080 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, up by 115 from Thursday, according to its ministry of health.
All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,454,079. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Friday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,137.
READ MORE: Vietnam reports 2,161 new COVID-19 cases
As of Friday, there were 129 severe cases in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.
Nationwide, 10,508,736 COVID-19 patients, or nearly 92 percent of the total infections, have recovered.
Approximately 259.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including roughly 220.1 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.