PH Covid-19 cases rise by 2,378; recoveries climb to 131,367

The DOH said the additional cases reported were based on the total Covid-19 tests done by 99 out of 109 operational laboratories. (PCI photo)

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday reported 2,378 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections, raising the overall tally to 189,601 with 55,236 active cases.

The DOH said the additional cases reported were based on the total Covid-19 tests done by 99 out of 109 operational laboratories.

It also noted that around 91.5 percent of the cases are mild, 6.1 percent are asymptomatic, 1.0 percent are severe, and 1.4 percent are critical patients.

Majority of the newly announced cases are from the National Capital Region (NCR) with 1,022 cases, Cavite with 132 cases, Laguna with 128 cases, Rizal with 115 cases, and Cebu with 196 cases.

“Of the 2,378 reported cases today, 1,905 or 80 percent occurred within the recent 14 days (August 10-23, 2020). The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were NCR with 818 or 43 percent, Region 4A (Calabarzon) with 331 or 17 percent and Region 3 (Central Luzon) with 153 or 8 percent,” the DOH said.

It also reported 16,459 new recoveries and 32 deaths. These figures increased the number of recoveries to 131,367 and deaths to 2,298.

“Of the 32 deaths, 20 or 62 percent were in August, eight or 25 percent were in July, three or 9 percent were in June, and one or 3 percent were in May and the deaths were from NCR with 22 or 69 percent, Region 7 (Central Visayas) with four or 12 percent, Region 5 (Bicol) with two or 6 percent, Region 6 (Western Visayas) with one or 3 percent, Region 4A (Calabarzon) with one or 3 percent, Region 3 (Central Luzon) with one or 3 percent, and CARAGA with one or 3 percent,” the DOH said.

It added that 26 duplicates were removed from the total case count, including nine recovered cases. Of the nine recoveries removed, four cases were validated to have died and already included in the count of new deaths.

As of Saturday, the 75 licensed RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) laboratories and 24 licensed GeneXpert laboratories have already conducted a total of 1,467,723 tests nationwide.

The DOH said it has 19,200 total bed capacity dedicated for Covid-19 patients. Occupied are about 49 percent of 1,700 intensive care unit beds; 47 percent of 12,400 isolation beds; and 50 percent of 5,100 ward beds.

There are 2,200 ventilators for Covid-19 patients with about 29 percent in use.