TOTAL CASES AT 1,543,281

Philippines’ active cases now at 54K with 6,216 new infections

The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday reported 6,216 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, bringing the total to 1,543,281,  as two laboratories failed to submit data on time.

This marks the second consecutive day where more than 6,000 cases were reported.

According to the DOH, this brought the country’s active cases to 54,401.

Of this, 93.4% are mild, 1.2% are asymptomatic, 2.3% are severe, and 1.4% are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that total recoveries climbed to 1,461,749 after 6,778 more patients recovered from the illness.

Meanwhile, 241 new fatalities, of which 139 were previously tagged as recoveries, brought the death toll to 27,131, the highest daily fatalities recorded since April 09.

“The technical issue reported about COVIDKaya has been resolved. The unusually high number of deaths reported today can be attributed to a backlog of cases being updated after the resolution of the system error,” the DOH said.

Thirty-one duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count.

Data from the DOH showed that 56% of the intensive care unit beds nationwide are in use while 38% of the mechanical ventilators are occupied.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), 45% of the ICU beds are being utilized by patients while 36% of the mechanical ventilators are in use.

The DOH earlier announced that the Philippines has detected 17 more cases of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant, bringing the total count to 64.

Meanwhile, the Metro Manila Council will impose longer curfew hours in the NCR from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. starting Sunday, July 25 due to a surge in COVID-19 cases and to further control the transmission of the Delta variant. -MDM, GMA News