DOH: COVID-19 hits 2,726 more from March 21-27; no new severe, critical cases

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday reported that 2,726 more people contracted COVID-19 in the country from March 21-27 and that there were no new severe and critical cases.

In its latest weekly bulletin, the DOH said the 2,726 new cases mean that an average of 389 people were infected per day during the last seven days – which was 24 percent lower than the average 510 cases recorded the week before or from March 14-20.

Also from March 21-27, the DOH reported the verification of 752 more death cases. This toll included the 107 fatalities in March as the rest of the total happened in the months prior.

As for healthcare utilization nationwide, the agency said last week had a rate of 16.7 percent in non-ICU beds and 15.1 percent in ICU beds. The use of intensive care unit (ICU) beds dedicated for COVID-19 patients was at 17.8 percent the week before.

The DOH likewise noted a decrease in the number of COVID-hit severe and critical patients from 809 to 758 in the last seven days.

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The past week also saw an increase in the number of fully-vaccinated people at 65,640,834, which represents 72.93 percent of the target population, after 833,088 more became fully vaccinated from March 21-27.

A total of 294,675 people were also able to receive their booster doses last week, increasing the sum of people who got booster shots to 11,825,403 nationwide.

The DOH’s March 28 COVID-19 bulletin was the fourth weekly update since the national government decided to veer away from doing the daily bulletin.

READ: COVID-19 reporting to be done weekly – Andanar

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said that the transition to weekly reporting was meant to “boost the confidence” of the public under the new normal.

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