Philippines posts 545 new COVID-19 cases; active tally at 45K

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday recorded 545 new COVID-19 infections increasing the nationwide tally to 3,673,201.

According to the DOH’s latest COVID-19 tracker, the country now has a total of 45,491 active cases.

The DOH said recoveries climbed to 3,569,711, while new fatalities pushed the death toll to 57,999.

Among the top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were the National Capital Region (NCR) with 2,156, followed by Region 4-A with 1,061, and Region 6 with 764.

Based on the latest data, at least 24.64% of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide are in use.

Meanwhile, 22.04% of isolation beds in the country were utilized, while 13.66% of ward beds in the were in use.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the COVID-19 cases in the country are now on a “slow decline,” saying that the average daily cases per day in the recent week is lower by 29% than cases last week.

Vergeire said the average daily reported infections from March 10 to 16 are 534, and 752 for the period of March 3 to 9.

“Our epidemic curve shows a swift decline following a peak of cases, this decline has slowed down over the past two weeks,” she added.—LDF, GMA News