Covid-19 cases rise by 4,650; recoveries now 113,481

The DOH said the additional cases reported were based on the total Covid-19 tests done by 97 out of 105 operational laboratories. (PCI photo)

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported 4,650 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections, raising the overall tally to 173,774 with only 57,498 active cases.

The DOH said the additional cases reported were based on the total Covid-19 tests done by 97 out of 105 operational laboratories.

It reported that of the active cases, about 91.4 percent were mild, 6.5 percent were asymptomatic, 0.9 percent was severe, and 1.2 percent were critical patients.

Most of the newly announced cases were from the National Capital Region (NCR) with 3,092 cases, Cavite with 249 cases, Laguna with 194 cases, Rizal with 189 cases, and Bulacan with 136 cases.

“Of the 4,650 reported cases today, 3,848 or 83 percent occurred within the recent 14 days (August 6-19). The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were NCR with 2,576 or 67 percent, Region 4-A (Calabarzon) with 574 or 15 percent, and Region 6 (Western Visayas) with 156 or 4 percent,” the DOH said.

It also reported 716 new recoveries and 111 deaths, bringing the total number of recoveries to 113,481 and the number of deaths to 2,795.

“Of the 111 deaths, 76 or 68 percent were reported in August, 13 or 12 percent in July, eight or 7 percent in June, nine or 8 percent in May, and five or 5 percent in April and the deaths were from NCR with 52 or 47 percent, Region 7 with 29 or 26 percent, Region 4A with 11 or 10 percent, Region 3 with six or 5 percent, Region 9 with four or 4 percent, repatriates with four or 4 percent, Region 6 with two or 2 percent, Region 5 with one or 1 percent, Region 11 with one or 1 percent, and BARMM with one or 1 percent,” the DOH said.

It added that some 89 duplicates were removed from the total case count and of these, 69 were recovered cases and two deaths.

“There were 27 cases that were previously reported as recovered but after final validation, they were 26 deaths and one active case. There’s also one case that was previously reported as death has been validated to be a recovery,” the DOH said.

As of Tuesday, the 82 licensed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) laboratories and 27 licensed GeneXpert laboratories have conducted a total of 1,956,496 tests nationwide.

The DOH said it has a 20,800 total bed capacity dedicated to Covid-19 patients.

Those occupied are about 50 percent of 1,700 intensive care unit beds; 42 percent of 14,200 isolation beds; and 53 percent of 4,900 ward beds.

About 28 percent of 2,200 ventilators are in use.