Record 28,707 new COVID-19 cases bring active cases past 128K

The Department of Health on Sunday reported a record-high 28,707 new COVID-19 infections, raising the country's total tally to 2,965,447 with active cases now over 128,000.

This is the highest number of cases reported since the pandemic began in the country. The previous highest daily case count was 26,458 on Saturday.

The active case count in the country reached 128,114, of which 4,213 are asymptomatic; 119,276 are mild; 1,465 are severe; and 309 are in critical condition.

Of the 28,707 cases reported on Sunday, the DOH said 28,512 or 99% occurred within the recent 14 days from December 27, 2021 to January 9, 2022.

The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were the National Capital Region with 16,803 or 59%, Region IV-A with 5,821 or 20%, and Region III with 2,841 or 10%.

Total recoveries also climbed to 2,785,183 after 2,579 more patients defeated the respiratory illness.

The death toll rose to 52,150 with 15 new fatalities.

Of the 15 deaths, the DOH said 11 occurred in January 2022, one in December 2021, one in October 2021, and two in September 2021. This was due to the late encoding of death information to its system.

Meanwhile, the country's positivity rate was at 44%. The total conducted COVID-19 tests were 77,479.

The DOH noted that 135 duplicates were removed from the total case count, while three cases previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

The DOH said all laboratories were operational on January 7, while 14 labs were not able to submit their data.

Latest data from the DOH also showed that 35% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are utilized, while 18% of the mechanical ventilators are also in use.

In Metro Manila, 52% of the ICU beds are utilized, while 26% of the ventilators are in use. — BM, GMA News