3,972 new COVID-19 cases reported; death toll exceeds 20K

The Philippines’ tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases rose to 1,188,672 on Tuesday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,972 new infections as ten laboratories failed to submit data on time.

According to the DOH, this brought the number of active cases to 48,201. 
Of this, 92.7% are mild, 2.1% are asymptomatic, 2.1% are severe, and 1.6% are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that 4,659 more patients have recovered from the illness, bringing the total to 1,120,452, while 36 new fatalities brought the death toll to 20,019.

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

“Moreover, 10 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the DOH said.

Data also showed that 59% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are in use while 41% of the mechanical ventilators are occupied.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), 58% of the ICU beds are being utilized by patients while 41% of the mechanical ventilators are in use.

The OCTA Research group earlier said that the NCR has improved and moved from being a high-risk area to a moderate-risk area for COVID-19. —LDF, GMA News