DOH reports 4,351 more cases; Covid-19 tally now over 157K

The DOH said the new cases are based on the total tests done by 96 out of 103 operational laboratories. (PCI photo)

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday reported 4,351 more confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), bringing the total to 157,918.

The DOH said the new cases are based on the total tests done by 96 out of 103 operational laboratories.

“There were ninety-three duplicates that were removed from the total case count.

Of these, ten recovered cases have been removed,” it said in its case bulletin.

Of the 4,351 reported cases, 3,469 occurred from August 2 to 15, 2020.

The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were Metro Manila with 1,952, Region 4A (Calabarzon) with 566, and Region 7 (Central Visayas) with 181.

The DOH also announced 885 new recoveries and 159 deaths, raising the total to 72,209 and 2,600, respectively.

Of the new fatalities, 71 came from Region 7, 61 from Metro Manila, 16 from Region 4-A, four from Region 5 (Bicol Region), two each from Regions 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) and 3 (Central Luzon), and one each from Regions 11 (Davao Region), 1 (Ilocos Region), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The DOH clarified that some 71 cases previously reported as recovered were reclassified as 70 deaths and one active case following its “final validation”.

The DOH said the active cases are currently pegged at 83,109, about 91 percent are mild, 7.5 percent are asymptomatic, 0.6 are severe, and 0.9 are critical.

As of Friday, the agency said half of the 1,500 intensive care unit beds dedicated to Covid-19 patients are occupied.

About 47 percent of the 12,100 isolation beds and 52 percent of ward beds are also in use while 71 percent of the 2,100 ventilators remain available.

The DOH said a total of 1,857,942 individuals have so far been tested in 80 licensed RT-PCR and 27 GeneXpert laboratories.