DOH logs 1,118 new COVID-19 cases during PH election week

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MANILA, Philippines — The coronavirus infected 1,118 more people – including 14 severe or critical cases – in the country from May 9 to 15, an election week, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

But the DOH’s weekly report released Monday indicated that the new cases were slightly lower (0.3 percent) than the number of fresh infections registered the previous week, which was at 1,124. Last week’s new coronavirus cases mean an average of 160 more people contracting the virus each day.

Sixteen additional deaths were also verified from May 9 to 15, the DOH said. This included 12 people who died this month while the rest died in the previous months.

The latest DOH report, however, showed an increased healthcare utilization rate from 15.4 percent (May 2 to 8) to 17.5 percent (May 9 to 15). But the use of intensive care unit or ICU beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients decreased to 15.6 percent last week from 16.8 percent the week before.

As for the number of people who continue to suffer severe and critical coronavirus disease symptoms, the DOH said it stood at 588 as of May 15. It was at 611 patients from May 2 to 8.

On vaccination progress, the weekly report showed that fully-vaccinated people have reached 68,665,070 or 76.29 percent of the target population after 227,272 additional individuals were vaccinated from May 9-15.

Vaccinated people who availed of booster shots also increased to 13,620,199 after 165,332 individuals received it last week.

Figures from the COVID-19 tracker on DOH’s website showed that the country’s confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 3,688,132 as of May 15, including 2,908 active cases, 3,624,769 recovered patients, and 60,455 fatalities.

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