Here are the day's top stories in photos.
No classes in HK kindergartens and primary schools amid Omicron threat
Children are escorted from school in Hong Kong as the city announced the suspension of all kindergarten and primary schools on Tuesday. Hong Kong, which implements one of the toughest coronavirus border restrictions shut kindergartens and primary schools until the Lunar New Year following the Omicron variant outbreak. Peter Parks, AFP
DOTr to implement ‘No vax, no ride policy’ order in public transportation
Members of the Land Transport Office and the Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (I-ACT) inspect public utility buses plying Commonwealth Avenue for compliance to minimum health protocols, which includes checking of vaccination cards, on Wednesday. The transportation department issued an order enforcing the “no vaccination, no ride” policy amid the recent spike of COVID-19 infection in the country. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
San Juan De Dios Hospital at full capacity for COVID as PH logs more than 32,000 cases
Health workers spend time outside the emergency room of San Juan De Dios Hospital in Pasay City, which, according to a notice, is already at full capacity for COVID-19 cases, on Wednesday. The Philippines on the same day logged its second-highest ever number of COVID-19 cases at 32,246 even as 11 laboratories, which contribute an average of 4.5 percent positive cases, were unable to submit data, according to the Department of Health. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News
Receiving COVID-19 well-wishes and supplies
A health worker collects a “get well soon” balloon along with other food and supply packages for patients admitted at the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital located at the Quirino Grandstand on Wednesday. Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso ordered the Manila Health Department (MHD) and the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) to only admit severe cases to keep hospitals open for other non-COVID-19 patients. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News
Blaze hits homes in Sta. Cruz, Manila
Firefighters are surrounded by smoke as they battle a blaze that hit a residential area at the corner of Recto Avenue and Benavides Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila on Wednesday. Reports say the fire, which began at around 3:32 pm, reached the second alarm and was declared under control at around 4:37 pm. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
Proof of vaccination
A woman shows her vaccination card to a member of Manila’s Task Force Malasakit along Ylaya St. in Binondo, Manila on Wednesday, days after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the arrest of people unvaccinated for COVID-19 who refuse to “stay put.” The Philippines is currently battling an uptick in COVID-19 cases with health authorities on Wednesday logging the country’s highest ever number of active cases at 208,164 or 6.8 percent of total cases. ABS-CBN News
Dinagat residents still staying in makeshift shelters a month after typhoon Odette
Families build and stay in temporary shelters where their homes once stood in Barangay Boa in Cagdianao town, Dinagat Islands on Tuesday, almost a month since typhoon Odette hit parts of the country. Survivors of the country’s strongest typhoon last year, which left billions in damaged structure and more than 400 dead, say a series of storm surges brought waves “as high as coconut trees,” leveling most of the houses in the barangay. Leonard Reyes, ABS-CBN News