289 new COVID-19 cases logged; active tally at 10K

The Philippines on Thursday logged 289 new COVID-19 cases bringing the nationwide tally to 2,837,016.

This marks the third straight day where less than 300 cases were reported.

Based on the Department of Health's (DOH) latest bulletin, the new infections brought the country's active cases to 10,095, of which 3,870 are mild, 549 are symptomatic, 1,845 are severe, and 389 are in critical condition.

Ngayong 4 PM, Disyembre 16, 2021, ang Department of Health ay nakapagtala ng 289 na karagdagang kaso ng COVID-19. Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 380 na gumaling at 47 na pumanaw.

Sa kabuuang bilang ng mga naitalang kaso sa bansa, 0.4% (10,095) ang aktibong kaso, pic.twitter.com/DqWj5Uluu8

— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) December 16, 2021

Total recoveries climbed to 2,776,425 after 380 more patients recovered from the viral disease.

The death toll rose to 50,496 with 47 new fatalities.

The DOH reported that the country’s COVID-19 positivity rate was at 0.9%, which is within the World Health Organization's requirement of less than 5% positivity rate.

The total conducted COVID-19 tests were at 37,139.

Meanwhile, the data also showed that 22% of 3,500 intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide are in use.

At least 13% of the 12,500 ward beds in the country were utilized, while 18% of the 3,700 ward beds in the National Capital Region (NCR) were occupied.

Based on the report, the DOH said four laboratories were not operational since December 14, while three laboratories failed to submit data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System.

The health department reported nine duplicates were removed from the total case count. Of these, nine are recoveries.

Meanwhile, at least 40 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.—LDF, GMA News