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Active cases down to 9.9K; new recoveries at 523

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora

December 18, 2021, 6:43 pm

<p> <em>(File photo courtesy of NegOcc-San Carlos City Information Office)</em></p>

 (File photo courtesy of NegOcc-San Carlos City Information Office)

MANILA – The country's active cases went down to 9,924 on Saturday as the Department of Health (DOH) logged 291 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients and 523 new recoveries.

In its latest case bulletin, the DOH recorded 106 new fatalities, raising the death toll to 50,675.

The new infections are lower than the 582 daily new cases reported on the previous day.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David warned that the country might face a "serious surge of infections" if the Omicron variant enters the Philippines.

But he noted that the slight uptick on DOH's Friday figures is more likely a dump of backlog and is "not yet an alarming increase".

"(Today's number is) within the predicted range of 250 to 300, so most likely not many backlog reports this time," he said in a tweet on Saturday.

The positivity rate is currently pegged at 0.9 percent based on the 35,527 individuals who had been tested for Covid-19 last December 16.

Of the active cases, DOH said 501 are asymptomatic, 3,854 have mild symptoms, 3,388 are moderate, 1,799 are severe, and 382 are in critical condition.

There had been a total of 2,837,555 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Philippines since the pandemic began, of whom 97.9 percent or 2,776,956 have recuperated.

Nationwide, at least 22 percent of the 3,500 intensive care unit beds are occupied, as well as 22 percent of the 19,400 isolation beds and 12 percent of the 12,200 ward beds.

In Metro Manila, utilized is around 24 percent of the 1,200 ICU beds, 20 percent of the 4,700 isolation beds, and 19 percent of the 3,700 ward beds dedicated for Covid-19 patients. (PNA)

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