with 72,264 active cases which is also the highest this year. doh also announced 390 recoveries and 13 deaths, bringing the total recovered patients to 561,902 and death toll to 12,900. country's fda granted eua to russian's sputnik v gam-covid-vac covid-19 vaccine. late trials of the vaccine showed 91 percent efficacy rate as revealed by fda march 20 – the country logged a new daily record high for the number of new covid-19 cases at 7,999 surpassing just yesterday's record of 7,103. this number brought the total number of cases to 656,056 with 80,642 as active cases. doh also recorded new 597 recoveries and 30 deaths which added to the total of 562,484 recovered patients and 12,930 fatalities. march 21 – amid the sudden surge of covid-19 cases in the country, president rodrigo duterte had placed ncr+ (includes ncr, bulacan, cavite, laguna, and rizal) under gcq starting march 22 until april 4, 2021, with additional measures based on iatf-eid resolution no. 104. march 22 – the country logged a new daily high record of 8,019 new covid-19 cases, surpassing the tally last 2 days ago, bringing the total number of cases to 671,792. this number includes 80,970 or 12.1% active patients; 103 new recoveries with total at 577,850; and 4 fatalities with total death toll at 12,972. march 24 – additional 400,000 doses of covid-19 sinovac vaccine donated by china arrived at naia at exactly 7:21 a.m. via philippine airlines flight and welcomed by senator bong go, chairman of the senate committee on health, sec. francisco duque iii, vaccine czar carlito galvez jr., and chinese ambassador huang xilian. it was the second batch of sinovac vaccines donated by china which now at 1m doses in total. march 25 – a new daily high record of 8,773 new covid-19 cases was reported by doh, bringing the total to 693,048 with active cases at 99,891, also the highest daily record since the start of the pandemic. another 574 recoveries and 56 fatalities were logged stretching the total to 580,0062 for recovered patients and 13,095 death toll. march 26 – covid-19 cases in the philippines breached the 700,000-mark on friday with another record-high 9,838 newly reported infections, as the capital region's coronavirus wards continued to see a stream of fresh admissions. march 27 – a new record high of 118,122 active cases out of 712,442 total covid-19 cases with the addition of 9,595 new infections was logged by the doh. this data includes 481 recuperated patients at 581,161 total recoveries, and 10 fatalities at 13,159 death toll. march 29 president rodrigo duterte personally welcomed the arrival of philippine airlines flight pr361 from beijing at villamor airbase carrying 1m doses of sinovac covid-19 vaccines. the set is the first batch of 26m doses of vaccines procured by the government from sinovac. the country recorded a new daily high of 10,016 new covid-19 cases which brought the total cases to 731,894. this number includes 115,495 active cases, 78 new recoveries (recuperated patients at 603,213), and 16 fatalities (death toll at 13,186). during his weekly state address, president rodrigo duterte had placed ncr+ bubble under ecq until april 4, 2021; quirino under ecq from april 1–15, 2021; santiago city with mecq from april 1–30, 2021; cordillera region, cagayan, isabela, nueva vizcaya, batangas, lanao del sur, davao city, iligan city, and tacloban city under gcq from april 1–30, 2021; and mgcq for the rest of the country. former president joseph ejercito-estrada tested positive to covid-19 and had been rushed to hospital due to weakening body as revealed by his son and former senator jinggoy estrada. april april 2 – the country recorded a new all-time daily high of 15,310 new covid-19 cases as the total confirmed cases skyrocketed to 771,497. active cases surged to 153,809 which is also the highest recorded number of infected patients in a single day. meanwhile, doh also reported 434 new recuperated patients and 17 fatalities bringing the total recoveries to 604,368 and death toll to 13,320. april 3 ecq was extended in ncr+ bubble for a week from april 5–11, 2021 as announced by malacañang through spokesperson harry roque jr. philippine orthopedic center reported 117 out of its 180 tested personnel came positive with covid-19 according to dr. john andrew michael bengzon, officer-in-charge. april 5 – the country had breached the 800,000 mark as the total number of covid-19 cases surged to 803,398 with 8,355 fresh cases reported. active cases reached 143,726 or 17.9%; recoveries increased by 145 to 646,237; and death toll climbed by 10 to 13,435. meanwhile, dfa also reported 17 new cases for filipinos abroad with total at 16,423; recoveries at 10,060; and death toll at 1,049. april 7 – the country's covid-19 death toll had breached 14,000-mark, which peaked at 14,059 as doh confirmed 242 new fatalities. additional 6,414 fresh cases and 163 recuperated patients were also reported bringing the total cases to 819,164 and total recoveries at 646,404. april 8 fda granted an hospital's request for compassionate special permit to use ivermectin against covid-19 as revealed by rolando domingo, director general. with reported unusual blood cloths with persons having low platelet count after inoculation, doh temporarily stopped the use of astrazeneca vaccine in the country upon fda's recommendation, for people below 60 years old. april 9 – the country logged an all-time daily record on the highest number of deaths on a single day at 401 fatalities, bringing the total death toll to 14,520. active cases also reached a new all-time high at 178,351 or 21.2% of the total cases as doh reported 12,225 new cases and 946 recuperated patients, with total cases at 840,554 and 647,683 recoveries respectively. april 11 – malacañang through its spokesperson harry roque announced ncr+ bubble will be placed to a more relaxed mecq status from april 12–30, 2021 after being put under ecq. april 12 – covid-19 death toll in the country had breached 15,000 mark with additional new 204 fatalities raising the total to 15,149. doh also logged 11,378 fresh cases and 267 recuperated patients bringing the total cases to 876,225 of which 157,451 or 18% are still active cases and 703,625 as total recoveries. april 15 – covid-19 cases in the country had breached 900,000 mark with additional 11,429 new infections bringing the total to 904,285 in which 20.3% or 183,527 as active cases. doh also recorded new 856 recoveries and 148 fatalities, pushing the total to 705,164 for recuperated patients and 15,594 for death toll. april 18 – the number of recoveries in the country had reached an all-time high at 72,607 recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic. meanwhile, doh also logged 10,098 new cases and 150 fatalities, pushing the total cases to 936,133 in which 141,089 or 15.1% are active; and death toll at 15,960. april 19 fda approved eua of bharat biotech's covaxin and johnson & johnson's janssen covid-19 vaccine as confirmed by director general rolando domingo. doh approved fda's recommendation to lift the suspension order on the use of astrazeneca vaccine for people under 60 years old, as revealed by undersecretary maria rosario vergeire. april 22 – an additional 500,000 shots of sinovac covid-19 vaccine (procured) arrived at naia at 5:16 p.m. via a pal flight which welcomed by vaccine czar carlito galvez jr. and doh secretary francisco duque iii. april 26 – the country had breached 1-m mark on the number of covid-19 cases with additional 8,929 new infections, swelling the total cases to 1,006,428. meanwhile, doh also logged new 11,333 recuperated patients and 70 deaths bringing total recoveries at 90.9% or 914,952 count and death toll at 1.67% or 16,853. current active cases is 74,623 at 7.4%. april 27 – all travelers, including those with recent travel history within the last 14 days from india were temporarily banned from entering the country, from april 29 to may 14, 2021, amid the threat of south asian b.1.617 covid-19 variant as announced by malacañang spokesperson harry roque. april 28 mecq status for ncr+ bubble is extended until may 14, 2021, as announced by president rodrigo duterte. meanwhile, abra, santiago city, and quirino were placed under mecq; apayao, baguio city, benguet, ifugao, kalinga, mountain province, cagayan, isabela, nueva vizcaya, batangas, quezon, tacloban city, iligan city, davao city, and lanao del sur under gcq; and rest of the country under mgcq from may 1–31, 2021. metro manila council through resolution 21-09 series of 2021, agreed to adjust curfew hours from 10 pm to 4 am in ncr starting may 1, 2021, as announced by mmda. april 29 – the sixth batch of sinovac covid-19 vaccine (procured) arrived at naia at around 7:10 a.m consisting of 500,000 doses via a cebu pacific chartered flight from beijing. in total, the country received a total of 3.5m doses of coronavac including the earlier 1m doses which had been donated by the chinese government. the said vaccine batch will be temporarily stored in a cold storage facility in marikina city before disseminating to lgus. april 30 – after an appeal from its lgu, malacañang through its spokesperson, sec. roque announced ifugao is now shifted to stricter mecq on may 1–14, 2021 together with ncr+ bubble. meanwhile, puerto princesa city is placed under gcq status from may 1–31, 2021. may may 1 the first batch of the sputnik v covid-19 vaccine (procured) arrived at naia around 3:44 p.m consisting of 15,000 doses via qatar airways. secretary carlito galvez jr., ntf chief implementer and vaccine czar, said the 15,000 doses will be used for a dry run in preparation for the arrival of bigger shipments this month. the philippine government started the vaccination of a4 priority group consisting of economic frontliners through a symbolic inoculation on labor day. may 3 – health secretary francisco duque iii administers president rodrigo duterte with the sinopharm bibp vaccine. may 5 – the country temporarily imposed ban to travelers including those with 14-days prior travel history from nepal, sri lanka, bangladesh, and pakistan from may 7 to 14, 2021 amid the threat of b.1.617 covid-19 variant as announced by executive secretary salvador medialdea. may 7 the country breached 1-m mark on the total number of recoveries as doh announced additional 4,227 recuperated patients, bringing the total to 1,003,160 at 92.22% rate. meanwhile, 7,733 fresh cases and 108 fatalities were also reported, raising the total confirmed cases to 1,087,885 and death toll to 18,099. the seventh batch of the sinovac covid-19 vaccine (procured) arrived at naia around 7:59 a.m consisting of 1,500,000 doses via cebu pacific. may 8 – the third batch of astrazeneca covid-19 vaccine arrived at naia around 1 p.m consisting of 2,030,400 doses via singapore airlines flight. may 10 – the first batch of pfizer–biontech covid-19 vaccine arrived at naia around 9 p.m consisting of 193,050 doses via air hong kong. may 12 – the second batch of sputnik v covid-19 vaccine (procured) arrived at naia around 9 p.m consisting of 15,000 doses via qatar airways. food and drug administration director general eric domingo told gma news online that the 15,000 doses delivered on wednesday were component 2 or the sputnik v's second dose. may 13 – malacañang through its spokesperson announced the shift of ncr plus to gcq status from may 15–31, 2021, including car, cagayan, isabela, and nueva vizcaya, batangas, quezon, puerto princesa city, iligan city, davao city, and lanao del sur. meanwhile, santiago city, zamboanga city, quirino, and ifugao were placed under mecq and rest of the country under mgcq from may 15–31, 2021. may 14 – all travelers including those with 14-days prior travel history from oman and the united arab emirates were added to travel ban from may 15–31, 2021 as confirmed by presidential spokesman harry roque upon the recommendation of doh amid the threat of b.1.617 covid-19 variant. meanwhile, travel ban from india, pakistan, nepal, bangladesh and sri lanka was extended until may 31, 2021. may 20 the eight batch of the sinovac covid-19 vaccine (procured) arrived at naia around 7:35 a.m consisting of 500,000 doses of government-procured via a commercial cebu pacific flight, bringing the country's total stockpile of the vaccine so far to 5.5 million of coronavac. the highest daily vaccination rate was recorded in the country with 229,769 inoculations administered in a day since the start of the nationwide