MANILA: The Philippines’ health ministry on Saturday reported 239 new coronavirus deaths, the second-highest daily increase in casualties since the pandemic started, and 2,240 infections.
The previous daily high death toll was 259 deaths reported on September 14.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases have increased to 559,288 while confirmed Covid-19 deaths have reached 12,068.
President Rodrigo Duterte is to decide next week whether to further loosen coronavirus curbs in the capital, Manila, to allow more economic activity.
Meanwhile, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Congress to quickly approve a bill granting indemnity to Covid-19 vaccine makers from legal claims stemming from their emergency use, in a bid to fast-track a lagging immunisation programme.
The legislation seeks to settle the question of who pays for claims for damages in the event of adverse effects from the inoculations, which has been a sticky point in supply negotiations.
Duterte’s spookesman Harry Roque said a swift approval of the bill would “ensure the timely and efficient implementation of the government’s Covid-19 mass vaccination programme”.
The Philippines is negotiating supply agreements with seven manufacturers for 148 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, so it can inoculate 70 million adults, or two-thirds of its more than 108 million population.
Vaccine manufacturers want protection from future product liability claims before they deliver the shots, authorities have said.
The bills pending in both houses of Congress seek to create a P500 million ($10.31 million) indemnification fund to cover adverse effects from the Covid-19 vaccine.
Carlito Galvez, a former general in charge of the country’s Covid-19 vaccinations strategy, has said the absence of an indemnification programme has delayed delivery of 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech shots through the COVAX facility.
— Reuters
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