THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 2,379 coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the total to 356,618.

The death toll rose by 50 to 6,652, while recoveries increased by 14,941 to 310,158, it said in a bulletin.

There were 39,808 active cases, 82.8% of which were mild, 11.5% did not show symptoms, 1.9% were severe and 3.7% were critical.

Quezon City reported the highest number of new cases with 172, followed by Rizal province with 147, Bulacan with 136, Caloocan City with 117 and Cavite with 101.

Metro Manila had the highest number of new deaths with 31, followed by Central Luzon with seven and Calabarzon with five.

Western Visayas and Mimaropa reported two deaths each, while the Ilocos region, Davao and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) reported one each.

More than 4.1 million people have been tested for the disease, the agency said.

Meanwhile, a lawmaker said the proposed budget for coronavirus vaccines is not enough to cover about 20 million Filipinos.

“It is only enough to cover 3.9 million Filipinos at a unit price of P641 each,” Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo said in a Viber message at the weekend. “This is clearly insufficient to protect us from COVID.”

The Philippines has funds to buy coronavirus vaccines but it needs more so the entire population of more than 100 million could be inoculated, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said last week.

He said he would look for more funds so all Filipinos could be vaccinated. The President said he was okay with vaccines developed either by Russia or China.

Ms. Quimbo noted that vaccinating 20 million Filipinos would cost P12.8 billion. Health authorities during House plenary debates on next year’s P4.5-trillion national budget sought P10.4 billion more to cover the cost of coronavirus vaccines.

Some lawmakers earlier said that intelligence funds of the Executive branch should be channelled to the health sector.

“This is something the small committee can work on as we tackle amendments to the General Appropriations bill,” Ms. Quimbo said. The Health department will get a P204-billion budget next year. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

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