14,786 new COVID-19 infections push Philippines’ active cases to 144,000

The Philippines’ tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases rose to 2,580,173 on Saturday with 14,786 new infections as two laboratories failed to submit data on time.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), this brought the country’s active cases to 144,061.

Of this, 80.3% are mild, 13.4% are asymptomatic, 1.9% are severe, and 0.8% are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, total recoveries climbed to 2,397,456 with 894 new ones, the lowest number of recoveries recorded since April 17.

The DOH said 164 more fatalities brought the death toll to 38,656.

A hundred duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count while 91 cases previously tagged as recovered were reclassified as fatalities.

Data also showed that the intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients remain at high risk with 73% of the total 4,400 ICU beds in use while 75% of the 1,500 beds in the National Capital Region (NCR) are occupied.

High risk means the occupancy rate is more than 70% but less than 85%.

Meanwhile, 65% of the 15,800 ward beds in the Philippines are being utilized while 62% of the 4,400 ward beds in NCR are in use.

The United States earlier announced it was sending more than eight million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh and the Philippines in the latest wave of aid to a world still struggling to tame the pandemic.  — DVM, GMA News