Philippines’ COVID-19 cases exceed 458,000 with 1,491 new infections

The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday reported 1,491 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, bringing the nationwide tally to 458,044, as seven laboratories failed to submit data on time.

Quezon City again reported the highest number of new cases on Saturday with 129, followed by Rizal with 102, Benguet with 81, Davao City with 75, and Laguna with 54.

According to the DOH, total recoveries also rose to 421,086 after 436 more patients recovered from the illness while 36 new fatalities brought the death toll to 8,911.

Nine duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count while nine cases previously tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths.

Meanwhile, there are 28,047 active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine, of which 83.4 percent are mild, 8.8 percent are asymptomatic, 2.5 percent are severe, and 4.9 percent are in critical condition.

Based on data from the DOH, 59 percent of the country’s intensive care unit beds are available while 81 percent of the mechanical ventilators are ready for use.

The OCTA Research Team earlier said the rate of increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region has been rising and could jump further during the Christmas holidays.

Meanwhile, more than 74.27 million people have been reported to be infected with COVID-19 globally and 1,666,080 have died. -MDM, GMA News