Philippines' COVID-19 case count breaches 3 million with 28,007 new cases

The Philippines' COVID-19 case count surpassed three million on Tuesday as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 28,007 new infections, bringing the country's tally to 3,026,473.

According to the DOH, the new cases brought the country's active caseload to 181,016, of which 5,521 are asymptomatic; 170,873 are mild; 1,464 are severe; and 295 are in critical condition.

This is the highest active case count since the 184,088 infections on September 18, 2021.

Of the 28,007 cases reported, 27,604 occurred within the recent 14 days from December 29 to January 11.

Ngayong 4 PM, Enero 11, 2022, ang Department of Health ay nakapagtala ng 28,007 na karagdagang kaso ng COVID-19. Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 4,471 na gumaling at 219 na pumanaw.

Sa kabuuang bilang ng mga naitalang kaso sa bansa, 6.0% (181,016) ang aktibong kaso,

— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) January 11, 2022

The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were the National Capital Region (15,256 or 55%), Region 4-A (5,861 or 21%) and Region 3 (3,064 or 11%).

Total recoveries climbed to 2,792,946 after 4,471 more patients defeated the respiratory illness.

The death toll rose to 52,511 with 219 new fatalities.

Of the 219 deaths, 17 occurred in January 2022, two in December 2021, five in November 2021, 26 in October 2021, 41 in September 2021, 43 in August 2021, 30 in July 2021, 21 in June 2021, 22 in May 2021, two in April 2021, two in March 2021, and eight in January 2021 due to the late encoding in the system.

The DOH noted that 64 duplicates were removed from the total case count, while 184 cases found to have tested negative have been removed.

Meanwhile, 147 cases previously tagged as recoveries have been reclassified as deaths after final validation.

The DOH said all laboratories were operational on January 9, but 12 labs were not able to submit their data.

Data from the DOH also showed that 41% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are utilized, while 18% of the mechanical ventilators are also in use.

In Metro Manila, 54% of the ICU beds are in use, while 27% of the ventilators are utilized.—LDF, GMA News