The country logged 2,018 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday—the highest daily tally in almost five months or since Feb. 18, data from the Department of Health showed.
With one new death reported, active cases now stood at 13,818.
Of the additional cases reported during Sunday, 838 are from Metro Manila, the DOH said.
As cases continue to climb, a lawmaker underscored the need to open vaccination sites for walk-ins.
“We need to open our vaccination sites for walk-ins, for everybody, regardless of the city or province they are coming from,” Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Ray Reyes said.
“Vaccine effectivity is waning because fewer Filipinos are not getting their recommended booster shots. The best way to address this is to make existing vaccination sites more accessible to our countrymen.
That includes opening the doors to any walk-in individuals, whichever part of the country they may be from,” Reyes added.
Barangay Health Worker party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co, for her part, lamented that until now, the Philippines has not yet given full approval to the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines.
“I ask our Food and Drug Administration to expedite the process. They could also ask Moderna and Pfizer to produce vaccines designed against multiple variants and have longer-lasting effectiveness,” she said.
More than 70 million people in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Uptake for booster shots, however, remained slow.
Despite the increase in cases and positivity rate, Metro Manila and dozens of other areas will stay under Alert Level 1 until July 15, Malacañang said.
Under Alert 1, all indoor establishments and public transport may operate at 100 percent capacity, but only for those with full vaccination status.