32,246 new COVID-19 cases push active tally to 208K

The Philippines on Wednesday registered 32,246 fresh COVID-19 infections, bringing the nationwide caseload to 3,058,634.

In Department of Health's data, the new COVID-19 cases include 31,793 cases that  occurred within the recent 14 days from December 30 to January 12, 2022.

The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were Metro Manila with 17,902 or 56%, followed by Calabarzon with 6,838 or 22% and Central Luzon with 3,268 or 10%.

The new cases also increased the active tally to 208,164, the highest since April 17, 2021 with 203,710 active cases. Of the current active cases, 6,435 are asymptomatic, 197,091 are mild, 2,872 are moderate, 1,468 are severe and 298 are critical.

The positivity rate also soared to 45.7%, with 63,903 total conducted tests.

Total recoveries reached 2,797,816, with 5,063 new ones.

The DOH also recorded 144 new fatalities, raising the COVID-19 death toll to 52,654.

Of the 144 deaths, 20 occurred in January 2022 (14%), eight in September 2021 (6%), 31 in August 2021 (22%), eight in July 2021 (6%), three in June 2021 (2%), 13 in May 2021 (9%), 38 in April 2021 (26%), 16 in March 2021 (11%), five in February 2021 (3%), and two in January 2021 (1%) due to late encoding of death information to COVIDKaya.

"This issue is currently being coordinated with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Units to ensure information is up to date," said DOH.

Meanwhile, the nationwide utilization rate for intensive care unit beds was at 43% while occupancy rate for mechanical ventilators was at 18%.

In Metro Manila, 56% of ICU beds are in use while 24% ventilators are occupied.

The DOH also deleted 85 duplicates, including 67 recoveries and one death, in the total case count.

Also, 125 recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

All molecular laboratories were operational on January 10, 2022 but  11 laboratories failed to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS), the DOH said.

"Based on data in the last 14 days, the 11 labs contribute, on average, 3.3% of samples tested and 4.5% of positive individuals," the DOH further pointed out.—LDF, GMA News