Philippines logs 4,634 new COVID-19 cases in past week; tally up by 53%
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health said Monday that the number of COVID-19 cases recorded from June 20 to 26 was 53% higher than the infections reported from a week before.
The DOH tallied 4,634 new cases, or 662 infections per day, last week. This was a significant rise from 3,051 cases logged from June 13 to 19.
Of the additional cases, 14 had severe and critical illness.
Authorities attribute the spike in infections to the presence of more transmissible variants with immune escape characteristics, increased mobility, and the waning COVID-19 vaccine immunity of the public.
OCTA Research said Monday that the positivity rate in Metro Manila rose to 5.9% on June 25, exceeding the five-percent threshold set by the World Health Organization to ensure that the spread of COVID-19 is under control.
The capital region, home to more than 13 million individuals, is under the lowest alert level until the end of June.
COVID-19 admissions
According to the DOH, there are currently 591 severe and critical admissions, which represent 10.7% of total COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the archipelago.
Despite the increase in cases, the healthcare utilization rate remains low. Of the 2,628 beds in intensive care units across the country, only 14.9% were utilized. Meanwhile, only 18.1% of 22,251 non-ICU beds were used.
The health department also reported that 51 fatalities were verified during the past week although none of those happened from June 13 to 26.
Over 70.35 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. However, only 14.94 million have gotten booster shots.
Since the start of pandemic in 2020, the Philippines has confirmed 3.7 million infections, with at least 60,000 deaths.
- Latest
- Trending
