PH active cases drop to 17,052

MANILA – The country’s active coronavirus cases decreased to 17,052 as the Department of Health (DOH) logged 1,667 new recoveries and only 899 new infections on Saturday.

Based on DOH’s case bulletins, this is the fourth straight day the daily new infections are below 1,000.

The new recoveries also brought to 2,765,920 the total number of patients who recuperated from the disease.

At least 188 fatalities, on the other hand, pushed the death toll to 48,205.

The country’s confirmed Covid-19 cases since the pandemic started now stand at 2,831,177 — at least 0.6 percent are undergoing treatment, 1.70 percent died, and 97.7 percent recovered.

Out of the over 17,000 active cases, at least 49 percent are mild, 6.9 percent are asymptomatic, 6.3 percent are critical, 15 percent are severe, and 22.77 percent are moderate.

At present, the positivity rate is pegged at 2.4 percent based on the 37,224 individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 last November 25.

Coronavirus patients currently fill 27 percent of the 3,700 intensive care unit beds, 26 percent of 19,900 isolation beds, and 16 percent of 13,300 ward beds nationwide.

In Metro Manila, 26 percent of the 1,300 ICU beds, 24 percent of the 4,700 isolation beds, and 22 percent of the 3,900 ward beds are occupied.

While the active cases continue to dip, the DOH asked the public to keep adhering to the minimum health standards, such as wearing masks, washing hands, and refraining from going to crowded places to prevent the spread of the virus.

“[M]as mahirap talaga natin masabi na talagang in control [tayo], wala namang definition iyon… Sa buong mundo, walang makakapagsabi na controlled na siya ngayon kasi puwedeng bukas iba po iyong mangyari (It’s still difficult to say that we’re in control of the pandemic, there’s no definition for that… No one in the world can really say it’s already controlled because the situation could change even by tomorrow),” Dr. Beverly Ho, director of the Health Promotion Bureau and the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, said in a separate presser.