Philippines logs 402 new COVID-19 infections; active cases at 11,255

The country on Sunday registered 402 new COVID-19 cases, raising the Philippines' total caseload to 2,836,592.

The new infections brought the country's active case count to 11,255, of which 4,334 are mild, 876 are asymptomatic, 1,961 are severe, and 401 are in critical condition.

According to the DOH, the new cases account for 1.2% of the 36,799 tests conducted on December 10.

The DOH also noted that of the 402 cases reported, 380 or 95% occurred within the last 14 days.

"The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were NCR (98 or 26%), Region 4-B (42 or 11%), and Region 4-A (37 or 10%)," the department said.

Total recoveries climbed to 2,775,057 after 509 more patients defeated the respiratory illness.

The death toll rose to 50,280 with 184 new fatalities.

The DOH noted that of the 184 reported deaths, only six occurred in December 2021, 35 in November, 73 in October, 54 on September, 10 in August, four in July, and one in June and February due to late encoding of death information to COVIDKaya.

"This issue is currently being coordinated with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Units to ensure information is up to date," it said.

The DOH also said six duplicates were removed, while 164 cases found to have tested negative have been removed from the total case count.

Further, 178 cases previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

The DOH said four laboratories were not operational on December 10, while three laboratories were not able to submit their data.

The latest data from the DOH also showed that 23% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are utilized, while 13% of the mechanical ventilators are also in use.

In Metro Manila, 26% of the ICU beds are utilized, while 17% of the ventilators are in use. — DVM, GMA News