MANILA, Philippines — Over 19,000 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the country this past week, the Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday.?
Based on the latest DOH bulletin, 19,262 new COVID cases were recorded from Aug. 22 to 28.
The department said there were 110 new patients in severe and critical condition, while 316 deaths from COVID-19 were verified, with 94 cases occurring from Aug. 15 to 28.
On the other hand, the daily average number of new COVID-19 infections is at 2,752, which is 19 percent lower than cases recorded from Aug. 15 to 21.?The DOH recorded on Sunday 807 severe and critical COVID-19 patients, comprising 10.5 percent of the total hospital admissions in the country.
Of the 2,551 intensive care unit beds for COVID patients, 635 or 24.9 percent were occupied, while 28.1 percent or 5,986 out of 21,287 non-ICU COVID beds were being used.?
The DOH also reported that as of Aug. 28, more than 72 million individuals or 92.80 percent of the target population have been vaccinated against COVID-19, an additional 166,461 individuals vaccinated from Aug. 22 to 28.
More than 17 million individuals have received their booster shots, including 424,207 individuals who got their booster during the same week.
The DOH added that 6.8 million senior citizens or 78.10 percent of the target A2 population were able to receive their primary vaccine series.?The department reminded the public to continuously observe minimum public health standards under Alert Level 1.
“Remember to always wear a best-fitted face mask and if possible, stay in well-ventilated areas. Once symptoms are felt, immediately isolate. For additional protection, have yourselves vaccinated and boosted,” the DOH added.
At a recent press briefing, the DOH said COVID-19 cases in the country, including in the National Capital Region (NCR), are declining.
“Only Mindanao is still seeing increasing numbers while the Visayas is on a plateau. The rest of the country shows downward trend,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
Positivity rate declines
Meanwhile, COVID-19 positivity rate in the NCR decreased by 12.9 percent over the weekend, OCTA Research said yesterday.
“NCR positivity rate decreased from 14.6 percent (Aug 20) to 12.9 percent (Aug. 27). Nearly all provinces in Luzon had a decrease in positivity rate,” OCTA fellow Guido David said on Twitter.
According to David, Bataan’s positivity rate decreased to 10.5 percent on Aug. 20 to 8.8 percent on Aug. 27.
“Bataan decreased to less than 10 percent. PR decreased but remained very high in Albay, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Isabela, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac,” he said.
David said on Sunday that the weekly average of new COVID-19 cases in the country was down by 15 percent. – Pia Lee-Brago