Philippines records 6,943 new COVID-19 cases; active tally at over 68K

The Philippines on Monday recorded 6,943 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country's total active infections to 68,832.

This is the lowest active case count since the 66,895 on August 5, 2021.

The Department of Health said the new cases brought the country's total COVID-19 caseload to 2,727,286.

Of the over 68,000 active cases, 79.7% are mild, 5.5% are asymptomatic, 4.5% are severe, and 1.9% are in critical condition.

Ngayong 4 PM, Oktubre 18, 2021, ang Department of Health ay nakapagtala ng 6,943 na karagdagang kaso ng COVID-19. Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 19,687 na gumaling at 86 na pumanaw.

Sa kabuuang bilang ng mga naitalang kaso sa bansa, 2.5% (68,832) ang aktibong kaso, pic.twitter.com/C1LTZswD6X

— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) October 18, 2021

Total recoveries, meanwhile, increased to 2,617,693 after 19,687 more patients defeated the viral disease.

The death toll climbed to 40,761 with 86 new fatalities.

The DOH said 25 duplicates were removed from the total case count, while 30 cases previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

The DOH said all laboratories were operational on October 16, while two laboratories were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System.

Further, data from the DOH also showed that 62% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are utilized, while 45% of the mechanical ventilators are also in use.

In Metro Manila, 59% of the ICU beds are in use, while 45% of the ventilators are utilized.

PNP fatality

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported a pregnant policewoman as its 123rd fatality due to COVID-19.

PNP chief Police General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar expressed his condolences to the family of the pregnant policewoman assigned in Central Luzon who died last October 17.

As of today, October 18, the PNP recorded 47 new cases of the virus bringing its total cases to 41,311 with 941 active cases. A total of 58 recoveries were also noted raising the number of recovered personnel to 40,248.—LDF, GMA News