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MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said active coronavirus cases went down to 19,340 and recorded 676 new COVID-19 infections.
Based on the agency’s online COVID-19 tracker, the latest confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide reached 4,005,465 as of November 1. This figure included the 3,989,556 patients who recovered from the disease and the 64,109 patients who died.
The logged new infections for November 1 were lower than the fresh cases recorded the day before, which was at 1,099.
But the latest tally of new COVID-19 cases were the results of SARS-CoV-2 tests conducted on Sunday, October 30. Coronavirus tests conducted on a Sunday were usually the lowest in a week based on the past data of the DOH.
The agency’s online COVID-19 tracker also showed that Metro Manila leads the list of regions with the most fresh infections in the past two weeks, with 4,807 new cases. Calabarzon, with 2,977 new infections, follows it and in third place was Central Luzon, with 1,736.
In terms of individual areas with the most number of fresh cases, Quezon City leads with 1,186 new infections, followed by Cavite with 1,064 and Rizal with 846.
The low number of registered new cases came even amid the detection of the XBB Omicron subvariant and XBC variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the severe respiratory illness COVID-19.
The XBB Omicron subvariant is believed to be highly immune-evasive and was blamed for the recent surge in Singapore.
The XBC variant, on the other hand, is a combination of the BA.2 sublineage of the Omicron and Delta variants. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency has classified it as a variant under monitoring and investigation.
The DOH previously warned of a possible rise in coronavirus cases, especially after the long break – as the nation observed All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day – due to increased mobility.
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