Philippines' 1,591 new COVID-19 cases lowest since February; active tally at 38K

The Philippines on Wednesday recorded 1,591 new COVID-19 cases, increasing the total count of virus cases nationwide to 2,793,898 as seven laboratories failed to submit their data.

The new cases were the lowest since February 24, which reported 1,557 new infections, based on the Department of Health's 4 p.m. case bulletin.

The DOH said active cases stood at 38,041.

Of these cases, 69.4% were mild, 5.2% were asymptomatic, 13.87% were moderate, 8.1% were severe, and 3.4% were in critical condition.

Total recoveries climbed by 4,294 to 2,712,298; while 186 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 43,586.

Data also showed that 44% of 4,100 intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide were in use.

Meanwhile, at least 28% of the 4,000 ward beds in the National Capital Region (NCR) were in use.

All laboratories were operational since November 1, while seven laboratories were not able to submit data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System, the DOH said.

A total of 349 duplicates were removed from the total case count. Of these, 330 were recoveries and four were deaths.

At least 132 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

The Philippine government is now looking into vaccinating minors aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19 by 2022, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said on Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration of the United States has approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 5 to 11.

The country also started on Wednesday its vaccination for all minors aged 12 to 17. The government is seeking to vaccinate 11.4 million people from this age group.

A total of 40,419 minors with comorbidities have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since the campaign started on October 15.—LDF, GMA News