
The country’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) death count has already exceeded 38,000.
Based on the latest case bulletin, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed 186 new fatalities on Wednesday, Sept. 29.
In a separate advisory, the DOH also announced 292 fatalities following a data backlog on COVID-19.
These cases brought the Philippine’s COVID-19 death toll to 38,164. The country’s case fatality rate is at 1.51 percent, the DOH said.
The DOH also reported 12,805 new cases of COVID-19, pushing the country’s running tally of cases to 2,535,732.
Of the total case count, 5.2 percent or 132,339 are active cases. Seventy-six percent of the active cases have mild symptoms, 16.4 percent are asymptomatic, 0.9 percent are critical, 2.1 percent are severe, and 3.91 percent are moderate cases.
The country’s recovery tally also increased by 12,236 to 2,365,229 or 93.3 percent of the Philippines’ total case count.
While the decline in cases is being observed, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire noted that the country’s healthcare utilization rate remains to be high.
“Kaya nga sabi namin, huwag tayong maging complacent. Kasi hanggang sa ngayon ang ating healthcare utilization ay mataas pa rin (That is why, let's not be complacent. Because until now our healthcare utilization is still high),” she said.
The latest case bulletin showed that 74 percent of the intensive care unit beds (ICU) dedicated for COVID-19 patients in the country are currently occupied. It also showed that 63 percent of the hospital isolation beds are being used.
Moreover, 67 percent of the ward beds for COVID-19 patients are being utilized, while 53 percent of mechanical ventilators are also being used.