DOH notes 35% drop in COVID daily average cases

COVID-19 infections detected daily have further dropped to an average of 612, lower by 35 percent from the 947 previous seven-day average.

New confirmed COVID-19 cases declined even as the Department of Health (DOH) reported the detection of the country’s first case of the “FE.1” subvariant of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The DOH, however, said that based on available evidence, the FE.1 subvariant did not exhibit any difference in severity compared to the original Omicron variant.

Several other Omicron subvariants have been detected through the DOH’s genome sequencing of random samples.

According to the weekly DOH bulletin, of the 4,281 individuals who tested positive for the virus last week, 57 were in severe or critical stages.

One COVID-19 death which occurred in May was confirmed last week, raising the official death toll to 66,482.

The utilization of reserved COVID-19 hospital beds has remained low.

The DOH reported that COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and non-ICU beds were 16.6 percent and 19.5 percent occupied, respectively.

Out of the 3,780 COVID-19 patients currently admitted, 477 were either seriously or critically ill.

As of June 19, 8,659 individuals were still infected with the virus. INQ