237 new COVID-19 cases bring Philippines’ active tally to 10,193

The Philippines on Wednesday logged 237 new COVID-19 cases bringing the nationwide tally to 2,836,915, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

The latest daily case count is the second lowest recorded since the 235 new infections posted on December 14, 2021.

Meanwhile, active cases slightly decreased to 10,193, of which a total of 3,876 individuals have mild symptoms, while 567 are asymptomatic, 1,867 are severe, and 391 are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that total recoveries climbed to 2,776,273 with 565 new ones while 100 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 50,449.

Nine duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count while 181 cases, of which all are recoveries, that were found to be negative were also removed.

A total of 96 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were, meanwhile, reclassified as deaths after final validation.

According to the DOH, four laboratories were again not operational while three failed to submit data on time.

The latest data from the DOH also showed that 22% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are utilized while 13% of the mechanical ventilators remained in use.

Data also showed that 24% of the ICU beds in the National Capital Region are in use while 14% of the ventilators are occupied.

The DOH earlier announced that the country has detected the Omicron variant from two international travelers.

Though most cases of the Omicron variant have mild symptoms, a DOH official has said that it is possible for the Philippines to experience higher peaks in cases due to Omicron compared to previous variants of concern.—LDF, GMA News