Philippines logs 1,453 new cases, 146 deaths; total infections at 492,700

The Philippines’ coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tally rose to 492,700 on Wednesday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,453 new infections as four laboratories failed to submit data on time.

The death toll climbed to 9,699 with 146 new fatalities, the highest since September 14.

The highest daily increase was registered in Quezon City with 95 new cases, followed by Cavite with 66, Manila with 54, Davao City with 50, and Cebu City with 44.

Total recoveries also hit 458,523 after 397 more patients recovered from the respiratory disease.

“The increase in deaths is due to late reporting of deaths from previous months. Of the deaths today, 36% occurred in December and others were from months before,” the DOH told reporters.

There are also 24,478 active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine, 84.9% of which are mild, 6.1% are asymptomatic, 3% are severe, and 5.5% are in critical condition.

The DOH said 59% of COVID-19 intensive care unit beds were still available and 79% of mechanical ventilators were not yet in use.

It added that 11 duplicates were removed from the total tally and 44 cases “previously tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths after final validation.”

Meanwhile, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac would be approved for emergency use by February 20. 

The Sinovac jab only showed a “general efficacy” of 50.4% in a late-stage Brazil trial. 

Galvez also said the Philippines was set to close a deal with British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca for 20 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. 

Vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac, and AstraZeneca are expected to be delivered to the country before June. 

Galvez earlier said some 50,000 Filipinos would be inoculated in February. —LDF, GMA News