11.7K more patients beat Covid-19

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday reported that another 11,714 patients have recuperated from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), pushing the recovery count to 1,598,314.

In its latest bulletin, the DOH also logged 14,249 new infections, jacking up the active cases to 98,847.

It also recorded 233 fatalities, raising the death toll to 30,070.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has recorded a total of 1,727,231 confirmed cases, of which 92.5 percent are recoveries, 5.7 percent are undergoing treatment, while 1.74 percent died.

At least 95.9 percent of the active cases exhibit mild symptoms, while one percent are asymptomatic, 0.8 percent are critical, 1.4 percent are severe, and 0.95 are moderate.

DOH data also showed an alarming 70 percent intensive care utilization rate in the Philippines. Meanwhile, 59 percent of the total 20,100 isolation beds and 61 percent of 13,500 ward beds nationwide are occupied.

Alert Level 4

In a Laging Handa briefing on Saturday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 54 areas are now under Alert Level 4.

Of this number, at least 11 are in Metro Manila — Las Piñas, Malabon, Makati, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, San Juan, Pateros, Quezon City, Taguig, and Valenzuela.

The ICU utilization rate in the entire National Capital Region is at 71 percent. At least 63 percent of the 4,700 isolation beds and 64 percent of 3,900 ward beds dedicated for Covid-19 patients in the region are also in use.

“Pataas pa rin ang trend ng ating mga kaso katulad ng sinabi natin kahapon marami na ang nag-escalate from Alert Level 1. Ngayon wala nang under (Alert Level) 1, puro 2 to 4 na (The trend is still upward and like we said yesterday several areas climbed from Alert Level 1. Now there are no longer areas under this level),” Vergeire said.

The DOH has a four-tier system with Alert Level 1 as the lowest, indicating Covid-19 case transmission is low and the health care utilization rate is less than 50 percent.

The highest of the four is Alert Level 4, meaning dedicated beds for Covid-19 patients are more than 70 percent occupied.