Workers clean beds inside a ward of a field hospital for Covid-19 coronavirus patients at a park in the Manila on June 24, 2021. – (Photo by Maria TAN / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly half or 598 of 1,232 hospitals in the country did not have a COVID-19 admission from December 5 to 9, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.
“We have observed that nationally, 48.5 percent of hospitals reported no new COVID-19 admissions in the past five days from December 5 to 9,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media briefing.
LOOK: DOH data shows 48.5 percent of hospitals in the country had no new admission of COVID-19 patients from December 5 to 9. @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/bmo4cZP8Ol
— Cathrine Gonzales (@cgonzalesINQ) December 10, 2021
Based on DOH data, the Soccsksargen region had the the highest percentage of hospitals without a recent COVID-19 admission at 75.4 percent, followed by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 73.1 percent, and Northern Mindanao at 65.7 percent.
In Metro Manila, 39.2 percent or 62 of 158 hospitals did not have new COVID-19 patients on the same dates.
According to DOH, the country had an average of 498 new COVID-19 cases from December 3 to 9, 27 percent lower than the 678 average cases from November 26 to December 2.
Vergeire also said that all major island groups and the NCR Plus show a “flat case trend” in the recent week.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire (Screengrab from DOH Facebook page)
The Philippines remains at minimal risk classification for COVID-19.
All regions are also at minimal risk except for Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Zamboanga Peninsula that are currently at low risk.