DOH logs 775 new infections; active cases down to 18,689

Image of the coronavirus / INQUIRER.net Stock Photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday registered 775 fresh infections of COVID-19, with active infections down to 18,689.

The DOH online COVID-19 tracker shows that the country’s COVID-19 caseload is now at 4,005,840 nationwide, with 3,923,006 recoveries and 64,145 deaths.

These new infections are only slightly higher than the cases recorded on Tuesday, which was at 676.

The tracker also showed that Metro Manila continues to lead the list of regions with the most infections in the past two weeks with 4,679 cases, followed by Calabarzon at second with 2,861 infections, and Central Luzon with 1,653.

In terms of individual areas with the most cases, Quezon City leads with 1,136 infections, Cavite with 1,017 and Davao Del Sur with 854.

Meanwhile, only 8,401 tests were conducted on Nov. 1, which will reflect the number of cases recorded on Thursday. Based on past DOH data, average tests usually number more than 15,000.

This low number of infections came after the health department just recently detected the XBB Omicron subvariant and XBC variant of COVID-19.

Both are believed to be highly immune-evasive, with the XBB tagged as the main driving force for the recent COVID-19 surge in Singapore, and the XBC being a combination of the BA.2 sublineage of the Omicron and Delta variants.

The DOH also earlier warned that virus transmission is likely to increase, especially after the observance of “Undas,” and the upcoming Christmas holidays.

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JPV