DOH: All regions at 'minimal risk' case classification for COVID-19, only 235 new cases detected

The Department of Health (DOH) said that all regions in the country are now under the minimal risk case classification for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The Philippines' COVID-19 situation continues to improve as it recorded only 235 new infections on Tuesday, Dec. 14. This was the lowest single-day tally since May 23, 2020 when the country recorded 180 cases at that time. Also, the country has been recording less than 1,000 cases since Nov. 24, 2021.
" national level remained at minimal risk with continued negative two-week growth rates over the past month and our ADAR is only less than one per 100,000 population. Lahat na rin ng ating regions ay nasa minimal risk po (All of our regions are at minimal risk)," said DOH-Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea De Guzman in a press briefing on Tuesday, Dec. 14.
“All provinces, HUCs (highly urbanized cities), and ICCs (independent component cities) of areas remain under Alert Level 2 with minimal to low risk case classification,” she added.
The country's health systems capacity is also at low risk classification in all regions.
"This decline in cases is reflected in our utilization rates and makikita natin na lahat ng ating (we can see that all of our) utilization rates, be the total bed utilization or the ICU bed utilization, ay naka low-risk na tayo (are already at low-risk)," said De Guzman.
Based on the latest case bulletin, the total number of active COVID-19 infections in the country stood at 10,526. Of those who are still being treated, 4,104 have mild symptoms, 3,502 have moderate symptoms, 1,868 have severe symptoms, 659 are asymptomatic, and 393 are critically ill.
The DOH also logged 780 new recoveries. These brought the survivor's tally to 2,775,991, representing 97.9 percent of the case total.
However, 10 new deaths were confirmed, causing the country’s death toll to jump to 50,351 or 1.77 percent of the total number of confirmed cases.
Based on the DOH projection, the number of active cases may decrease to 5,953 by the end of this year if the public will continue to strictly adhere to the minimum public health standards.
However, the Philippines may see 8,600 active cases by Dec. 31 if compliance to health protocols will not be maintained.