The number of daily cases for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) hit 7,999 on Saturday, which is a new record high, fueling fears that new variants of the virus may be wreaking havoc in the Philippines.

The 7,999 new Covid-19 cases logged by the Department of Health (DOH) surpassed the 7,103 infections recorded on Friday, which was the previous record high. The total number of active Covid-19 cases in the Philippines is now at 80,642.

Of the new Covid-19 cases, 94.4 percent are mild, 3.1 percent are asymptomatic, 0.9 percent are critical, 1 percent are severe and 0.53 percent are moderate cases. In terms of recoveries, the DOH recorded 597 to bring the total tally of those who recovered to 562,484, while another 30 died to bring the total number of deaths at 12,930.

Meanwhile, a total of 46 additional B.1.1.7 variant cases, 62 more B.1.351 variant cases, and six additional P.3 variant cases were detected in the 11th batch of specimens submitted to the Whole Genome Sequencing, DOH, University of the Philippines (UP) – Philippine Genome Center, and UP – National Institutes of Health. The B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.3 are called the “new” Covid variants.

They were among the 150 samples, mostly from National Capital Region (NCR) laboratories, sent for investigation and verification.

The agencies emphasized in a statement released Saturday that the P.3 variant is still not identified as a variant of concern.

“Current available data are insufficient to conclude whether the variant will have significant public health implications,” the statement read.

Of the additional 46 B.1.1.7 variant cases, 36 are local cases from the NCR, two are from returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs), and the other eight are still being verified.

Only one has recovered so far, based on data released on Friday.

It brought the total number of B.1.1.7 cases in the country to 223.