DOH logs 12,414 new COVID-19 cases from May 8–14, 2023

New COVID-19 infections surpassed the 12,000 mark from May 8 to May 14, 2023, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Based on the latest DOH bulletin, the country logged a total of 12,414 new coronavirus cases in the past week, 31% higher than the 9,465 cases monitored from May 1 to May 7.

This is the largest number of weekly COVID-19 cases in 29 reporting weeks and the first time in 28 reporting weeks that the new weekly infections reached over 10,000, according to GMA Integrated News Research.

It likewise marked the 11th straight week of increasing cases and the second straight week of more than 1,000 average daily new cases.

The DOH also said the daily case average for the recent week went up by 31% or 1,773 cases from the 1,352 daily average cases in the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Health Department said there were no verified COVID-19-related deaths in the country in the past week. This is 100% lower than the number of fatalities reported in the last nine weeks.

It is also the fourth straight week there were fewer than ten verified deaths and the tenth straight week of zero reported actual deaths in the past two weeks.

According to the DOH bulletin, 437 severe and critical cases, or 8.8% of the total COVID-19 admissions were admitted to hospitals due to COVID-19 as of May 14. It is the highest number of severe and critical cases in 15 weeks and the second straight week of more than 400 admissions for such cases.

Of the 2,093 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, 349 or 18.8% were occupied while 21.7% of the non-ICU COVID-19 beds were in use. This is 14% higher than the 16.5% ICU bed utilization from the past week and is the highest utilization rate in 20 weeks. It is also the third straight week of more than 300 occupied ICU beds.

The utilization of non-ICU beds, meanwhile, is 2% higher than the 21.2% non-ICU bed utilization monitored as of May 7.

However, healthcare utilization is still in the low-risk zone.

Vaccination updates

The DOH said it had yet to generate updated vaccine accomplishment due to the ongoing migration of the Vaccine Information Management System.

As of March 19, 179,046,746 vaccine doses were administered in the country. Of the figures, more than 75 million individuals have received their first dose; more than 79M have completed two doses while over 24 million have availed of their booster doses. — Sundy Locus/BM, GMA Integrated News