DOH: 23,883 new COVID-19 cases recorded from August 15-21

The Philippines recorded a total of 23,883 new COVID-19 cases from August 15 to August 21, 2022, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Based on the DOH’s weekly COVID-19 case bulletin, the infections in the recent week was 15% lower than the cases reported on August 8 to August 14, with 28,008 new cases.

The daily case average for the recent week also decreased to 3,412 from the previous 4,001.

For the past week, a total of 321 additional verified COVID-19-related deaths were belatedly recorded by the DOH. These deaths were logged since January 2021 to August 2022.

Of these 321 fatalities, 109 occurred in August 2022; 90 in July 2022; 20 in June 2022; three in May 2022; 16 in April 2022; 23 in March 2022; 42 in February 2022; one in January 2022; one in December 2021; one in November 2021; three in October 2021; two in September 2021; three in August 2021; one in June 2021; one in May 2021; three in April 2021; one in March 2021; and one in January 2021.

Ninety of these also occurred from August 8 to August 21 alone.

Further, data showed that 811 severe and critical cases were admitted in hospitals due to the viral disease as of Sunday, August 21.

Of the 2,586 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, 699 or 27% were occupied. Meanwhile, 6,677 or 30.2% of the 22,076 non-ICU COVID-19 beds were in use.

Of the new cases recorded in the recent covered period, there were 101 individuals tagged as new severe or critical cases. This was 0.44% of the new cases reported for the week, according to DOH.

Vaccination updates

A total of 72,310,149 individuals or 92.59% of the government’s target population are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, based on the data.

Of this number, 203,059 were vaccinated from August 15 to August 21.

Meanwhile, at least 6.8 million senior citizens or 78.01% of the target A2 population have also received their primary vaccine series.

The DOH also said that 17,419,141 individuals have received their booster shots. Of which, 403,728 were boosted in the same period. 

August 22 new cases

On Monday, August 22, the DOH reported 3,077 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total nationwide caseload to 3,858,838.

According to its latest bulletin, active cases in the Philippines dropped to 33,774 from the 35,271 monitored on Sunday. Total recoveries rose to 3,763,678 while the death toll increased to 61,386.

The highest COVID-19 cases were recorded in Metro Manila in the last 14 days with 15,080. It was followed by Region IV-A with 8,847; Region III with 4,967; Region VI with 2,619 and Region II with 2,289.

DOH said 13,937 individuals were tested for COVID-19 on Sunday, August 21 while 305 testing labs submitted their results.

Meanwhile, the country’s bed occupancy rate remains at low risk at 28.9 percent. It means 8,345 of the 28,839 beds nationwide are occupied while 20,494 are vacant.— With Sundy Locus/RSJ, GMA News