The Philippines recorded 2,303 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Tuesday, Nov. 2— the lowest single-day new infections recorded in nearly eight months.

The last time the Philippines recorded more than 2,000 cases was on March 10 wherein 2,886 COVID-19 infections were reported then.

Tuesday’s fresh cases pushed the active COVID-19 infections across the country to 40,786 or 1.5 percent of the Philippines’ cumulative tally of cases which was at 2,792,656.

Of the active infections, 71.2 percent are mild, 5.1 percent are asymptomatic, 3.2 percent are in critical condition, 7.5 percent are severe, and 13.02 percent are moderate cases.

Also, 128 new deaths related to COVID-19 were recorded, raising the total fatalities to 43,404. The death toll accounts for 1.55 percent of the total cases.

Meanwhile, total recoveries rose by 4,677 to 2,708,466 or 97 percent of the case total.

The Philippines remained under low-risk classification for COVID-19 amid the decline in newly detected cases, said DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea De Guzman in a press briefing.

Out of the 17 regions in the country, only Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) were under the moderate risk classification for COVID-19. The other regions were under the low-risk classification, based on the data presented by De Guzman.

Based on the data, the ICU utilization rate of Cagayan Valley and CAR were under high-risk classification with their utilization rate at 83.63 percent and 74.34 percent, respectively.

The DOH also said that the ICU utilization rate in Mimaropa, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao Region, Bicol Region, Central Luzon, and Caraga were under the moderate risk classification. The other regions were under low-risk for their ICU utilization rate.

The hospital bed utilization in Metro Manila “has been decreasing since mid-September and shows a plateau in the recent week,” as stated in the presentation of De Guzman. It was also stated that Metro Manila’s “ICU bed utilization” is at “low-risk.”

However, the DOH flagged five areas due to high utilization of their healthcare system capacities. These areas are Catanduanes, Benguet, Ifugao, Negros Oriental, and City of Santiago.

De Guzman said that these areas are either under “moderate to high risk classification” for COVID-19 while their “health capacity is greater than 70 percent in the current week.”

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Analou de Vera

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