6,959 new COVID-19 cases push Philippines’ tally to 1,353,220

The Philippines’ tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases rose to 1,353,220 on Saturday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 6,959 new infections as six laboratories failed to submit reports on time.

This marks the third straight day where more than 6,000 cases were recorded.

The DOH also announced that total recoveries climbed to 1,270,243 after 9,407 more patients recovered from the illness, the highest daily recoveries recorded since May 9.

Due to this, the number of active cases slightly decreased to 59,439.

Of this, 92.2% are mild, 3.6% are asymptomatic, 1.7% are severe, and 1.3% are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, 153 new fatalities brought the death toll to 23,538.

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

“Moreover, 170 cases previously tagged as recoveries have been validated to be active cases, and 97 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the DOH said.

Data from the DOH showed that 58% of the intensive care unit beds nationwide are in use while 36% of the mechanical ventilators are occupied.

In the National Capital Region, 44% of the ICU beds are being utilized by patients while 31% of the mechanical ventilators are in use.

The DOH earlier said that healthcare workers will get their allowances in cash after the allotment was "repurposed" to other COVID-19-related responses. -MDM, GMA News