8,735 new Philippine COVID-19 infections registered; active cases over 63,000

The Philippines on Sunday reported 8,735 new COVID-19 infections, raising the country's total tally to 1,597,689.

This is the third straight day where more than 8,000 cases were recorded.

The Department of Health said the new cases brought the total active cases in the country to 63,646, the highest recorded since May 8.

Of these, 94% are mild, 1.3% are asymptomatic, 2.1% are severe, and 1.2% are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries rose to 1,506,027 after 5,930 more patients recovered from the respiratory illness.

The death toll climbed to 28,016 with 127 new fatalities.

The DOH said 11 duplicates were removed from the total case count, while nine cases previously tagged as recoveries have been validated to be active cases.

Seventy cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were also reclassified as deaths after final validation.

The DOH said two laboratories were not operational on July 20, while four laboratories were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System.

Data from the DOH also showed that 59% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are utilized, while 40% of the mechanical ventilators are also in use.

In Metro Manila, 51% of the ICU beds are in use, while 39% of the ventilators are utilized. — DVM, GMA News