Philippines’ COVID-19 cases top 346,000 with 1,910 new infections

The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines rose to 346,536 after the Department of Health (DOH) announced 1,910 new infections on Wednesday, the second day in a row with less than 2,000 new cases.

The bulk of the newly reported infections were still recorded in Metro Manila at 624, followed by Cavite with 219 new cases, Batangas with 104, Rizal with 91, and Negros Occidental with 63.

Eighty-six percent or 1,639 of the latest infections caught COVID-19 in the past 14 days.

Meanwhile, total recoveries rose to 293,860 after 579 more patients recovered from the respiratory disease.

The death toll also increased to 6,449 with 78 new fatalities, 64 of whom died this month.

“Moreover, 17 cases previously tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths,” the DOH added.

The other 46,227 are active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine, 84.5 percent of which are mild, 10.5 percent are asymptomatic, 1.6 percent are severe, and 3.3 percent are in critical condition.

As of October 13, the Philippines had 147 licensed laboratories that had tested over 3.9 million individuals while 48 percent of COVID-19 intensive care unit beds nationwide were occupied and 27 percent of mechanical ventilators were in use.

The Philippines still ranks 18th worldwide in the number of COVID-19 infections. —LDF, GMA News