Philippines’ COVID-19 cases top 245,000 with 3,176 new infections

The Philippines’ tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections rose to 245,143 on Wednesday after the Department of Health (DOH) announced 3,176 new cases.

Metro Manila still recorded the highest number of new infections at 1,327, followed by Batangas with 260, Laguna with 193, Rizal with 176, and Negros Occidental with 155.

Eighty-eight percent or 2,793 of the newly reported cases caught COVID-19 in the past 14 days.

The DOH said new cases reported on Wednesday were based on data submitted by 105 of the 117 operational laboratories.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier advised the public to expect a high number of new cases as laboratories complete their submission of patients’ data to the DOH.

Meanwhile, total recoveries rose to 185,543 after 376 more patients recovered from the respiratory disease.

The death toll also climbed to 3,986 with 70 new fatalities, 49 of whom died in September, 10 in August, and the rest from April to July.

The other 55,614 are active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine, 88.3 percent of which are mild, 8.6 percent are asymptomatic, 1.3 percent are severe, and 1.8 percent are in critical condition.

As of September 8, the Philippines had 118 licensed laboratories that had tested over 2.7 million individuals while 46 percent of COVID-19 intensive care unit beds nationwide were occupied and 28 percent of mechanical ventilators were in use.—LDF, GMA News