Philippines reports 16,361 new COVID-19 cases; active tally at 171K

The Department of Health (DOH) reported 16,361 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, pushing the country's total case count to 2,401,916.

According to the DOH, the new cases brought the country's active cases to 171,142, of which 92.4% are mild, 2.8% are asymptomatic, 1.4% are severe, and 0.6% are in critical condition.

The total recovery count increased to 2,193,700 after 21,974 more patients defeated the viral disease.

The death toll rose to 37,074 with 140 new fatalities.

The DOH said 61 duplicates were removed from the total case count, while 60 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

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

The DOH added that the relatively low case count was due to lower laboratory output on September 19.

Further, data from the DOH also showed that 78% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are utilized, while 58% of the mechanical ventilators are also in use.

In Metro Manila, 78% of the ICU beds are in use, while 64% of the ventilators are utilized.—LDF, GMA News