4,806 more individuals test positive for COVID-19

A healthcare worker conducts a swab test on a woman in Imus, Cavite. Image from OVP

MANILA, Philippines — The number of COVID-19 cases in the country slightly increased on Thursday, but it is still comparatively lower than in the previous days with 4,806 new infections on Thursday, bringing the country’s tally of active COVID-19 cases to 65,835 as of Thursday.

With the new cases recorded, the country now has 2,740,111 total confirmed cases of the disease, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

The DOH also reported additional 5,934 recoveries and 260 deaths. Overall, 2,633,039 patients have recovered while 41, 237 have died.

According to the DOH, 10.9 percent of 52,262 individuals who were tested were found positive for the virus last Tuesday.

“All labs were operational on October 19, 2021, and were able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System,” the DOH said.

On hospital occupancy, 58 percent of ICU beds, 45 percent of isolation beds, 43 percent of ward beds, and 42 percent of ventilators are currently being used.

The DOH removed 64 duplicate entries, including 51 recoveries, from the total case count, and reclassified 175 recoveries as deaths after validation.

On Wednesday, the department reported only 3,656 new COVID-19 cases. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that if the decline in new cases continues, Metro Manila may be placed under the more relaxed Alert Level 2 in the coming weeks.

OCTA Research fellow Guido David, meanwhile, said that the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country is expected to decrease to the pre-Delta variant surge level by the end of October considering the decrease in additional infections.

EDV