The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday, Feb. 23, logged 1,534 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)---the fifth straight day that the Philippines has been recording less than 2,000 cases.
Since Feb. 14, the number of fresh coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases has stayed below 3,000.
The country has recorded a total of 3,655,709 cases since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Of this number, only 1.5 percent or 55,449 are still being treated.
The DOH noted that 50,258 patients have mild symptoms, 2,811 are moderate; 1,426 are severe; 652 are asymptomatic; while 302 are in critical condition.
Likewise, another 2,729 recoveries were announced, bringing the survivors' count to 3,544,283.
There were 201 more patients who were confirmed to have died because of COVID-19. The death toll jumped to 55,977
The number of new COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is still on a downward trend, said the DOH.
“As of Feb. 22, our latest data show a decline in COVID-19 cases over the past weeks. We have also observed a decline in hospital admissions which can be correlated to the decline of cases,” the DOH said.
“Notably, the national ICU utilization rate is now at 30 percent compared to 51 percent of Jan. 22,” it added.
It was also shown in the latest case bulletin that two laboratories were unable to send their data to the DOH’s COVID-19 system.
“While only a few laboratories failed to submit their reports on time, these delays do not significantly affect the number of daily cases. Likewise, regular tests are still being administered across the country and local government units are highly encouraged to ramp up their testing and contact tracing efforts,” the DOH said.
The DOH said that positive results from antigen tests are not yet included in the daily tally.
“Currently, while antigen test results are not yet included in our topline numbers, LGUs are required to submit their line list which is then cleared and analyzed along with RT-PCR results received from labs,” it said.
“Furthermore, the general public is encouraged to honestly report their test results to the proper authority to prevent virus transmission within the community. This will allow our local officials to take proper action as well,” it added.