Record 10,016 new COVID-19 infections bring Philippine total to 731,894

The Philippines on Monday reported a record 10,016 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total tally to 731,894, as three laboratories failed to submit data on time.

This is the highest daily case count reported since the pandemic began.
The Department of Health said this brought the total active cases in the country to 115,495.

Of this, 95.9% are mild, 2.4% are asymptomatic, 0.7% are critical, and 0.7% are in severe condition.

Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries also climbed to 603,213 after 78 more patients defeated the viral disease.

The death toll rose to 13,186 with 16 new fatalities. 

The DOH said 14 duplicates were removed from the total case count, while 11 cases previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

Data from the DOH also showed that 58% of the country’s intensive care unit beds and 39% of the mechanical ventilators are utilized.

On Saturday, the government placed Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna under enhanced community quarantine from March 29 to April 4 in a bid to address the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government again imposed the ECQ over Metro Manila and nearby provinces to stop active COVID-19 cases from climbing to 430,000 by the end of April.

Vergeire said projections by modeling tool FASSSTER showed that “further exponential increase [is] likely” if “we are not going to impose harder lockdowns or harder measures.”

She added that the country’s health system is “choking,” with healthcare utilization rates reaching  63% in Metro Manila and 58% in CALABARZON. —BM/NB, GMA News