Coronavirus infections are surging in the Philippines, with the daily tally hitting a new high for a third straight day.

The country's Department of Health reported 33,169 new cases on Monday. That's the first time the country's daily count has exceeded 30,000.

Health officials told reporters that genome sequencing of samples from 48 patients found that 29, or around 60 percent, were infected with the Omicron variant, and 18 others were Delta cases.

The officials said Omicron is now the dominant variant.

Infections had remained low in the country until mid-December, with about only 160 cases reported per day. But new case numbers later began to surge, possibly because many people went out or dined together for Christmas.

Infections are especially rampant in the Metro Manila area. The government has raised the coronavirus alert level by one notch for the area, banning meetings and requiring eating establishments to limit the number of customers to 30 percent of capacity.