DOH sees downtick in flu-like illnesses

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said the numbers of influenza-like illness (ILI) and COVID-19 cases in the Philippines continue to decrease and are expected to plateau next month. The DOH said that there were a total of 16,155 ILI cases nationwide from Jan. 1 to Feb. 3. This was 19 percent lower compared to 19,935 ILI cases reported in the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, as of Feb. 11, the DOH said that out of the 1,345 dedicated COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, only 151 (11 percent) were occupied, while only 1,528 (14 percent) of the 11,291 dedicated COVID-19 non-ICU beds were occupied. Severe and critical COVID-19 cases totaled only 184. —JEROME ANING