2,668 new COVID-19 cases push Philippines’ total to 600,428

The Philippines’ tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases rose to 600,428 on Tuesday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,668 new infections as eight laboratories failed to submit data on time.

This breaks the country’s four-day streak of more than 3,000 COVID-19 cases reported in a single day.

Meanwhile, 171 more patients have also recovered from the illness, bringing the total to 546,078 while seven new fatalities brought the death toll to 12,528.

Three duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count.

“Moreover, 2 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the DOH said.

There are also 41,822 active cases undergoing treatment or quarantine, of which 91.6 percent are mild, 3.9 percent are asymptomatic, 1.9 percent are severe, and 1.8 percent are in critical condition.

Data from the DOH also showed that 57 percent of the country’s intensive care unit beds are available while 76 percent of the mechanical ventilators are ready for use.

An expert from the OCTA Research group earlier said the daily new cases of COVID-19 in the National Capital Region may reach 5,000 by March 31 as the projected reproduction number may have already increased to 1.8.

The DOH has said that lapses in compliance with safety protocols contributed to the spike in COVID-19 cases amid claims the rise in infections is being driven by coronavirus variants.—LDF, GMA News