DOH posts 12,426 fresh COVID-19 cases on May 15-21

The number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the Philippines in the recent week slightly increased to 12,426, data by the Department of Health (DOH) showed on Monday.

The infections reported from May 15 to May 21, 2023 were a bit higher than the 12,414 cases from May 8 to May 14.

This is the largest number of weekly COVID-19 cases in 30 reporting weeks, according to GMA Integrated News Research.

Recent daily case average also went up by 0.1% from the previous 1,773 to 1,775.

This marked the 12th straight week of increasing cases and the third straight week of more than 1,000 average daily new cases.

Data from the DOH also showed 13 additional verified COVID-19-related deaths were belatedly logged from June 2022 to May 2023.

Of these deaths, two occurred in May 2023, five in April 2023, two in March 2023, one in September 2022, two in August 2022, and one in June 2022.

There were also 486 severe and critical cases admitted in hospitals due to COVID-19 as of May 21. This was 9% of the total COVID-19 admissions.

Eighty-seven of these patients were tagged as a new severe or critical case in the recent week.

At least 389 or 18.2% of the 2,134 intensive care unit (ICU) beds were also used, while 4,211 or 23% of the 18,321 non-ICU COVID-19 beds were occupied.

As for vaccination, the agency said it has yet to generate updated vaccine accomplishment due to the ongoing migration of the Vaccine Information Management System.

As of March 19, 78.4 million Filipinos were already fully vaccinated against COVID-19, covering 100.4% of the government’s target population.

At least 7.1 million senior citizens, or 82.16% of the target A2 population have also received their primary vaccine series.

Meanwhile, 23.8 million individuals have received their booster shots. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News