Record 200,000 active cases, 11k new infections

Active coronavirus infections in the Philippines breached the 200,000-mark on Saturday — the highest in Southeast Asia since the pandemic began — after the health department logged 11,101 new cases.

The number of new Covid-19 patients raised the tally of sick people to all-time high 203,710, beating Friday’s record of 193,476.

It also raised the nationwide Covid-19 tally to 926,052.

Of those still battling the disease, 96 percent were experiencing mild symptoms, 2.9 percent were asymptomatic, 0.4 percent were in critical condition, 0.5 percent were severe cases.

The Department of Health also recorded 72 fatalities, bringing the country’s Covid-19 death toll to 15,810.

Recoveries increased by 799 to 706,532, which accounted for 76.3 percent of the country’s cumulative tally.

The new figures excluded data from nine laboratories which failed to submit reports on time.

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines has the highest number of active Covid-19 cases, followed by Indonesia with 107,297 active infections.

Malaysia ranked third with 18,600 Covid-19 patients, followed by Thailand (10,461), Myanmar (7,527) and Cambodia (3,049).

On the other hand, some countries have not reported over a thousand active cases. These include East Timor (567), Singapore (293), Vietnam (292), Brunei (12) and Laos (5).

The rising number of active cases has alarmed local officials, who also noted that the occupancy rate of hospitals in Metro Manila have been increasing.

In Metro Manila, 85 percent of intensive care unit beds, 62 percent of isolation beds, 72 percent of ward beds, and 64 percent of ventilators were no longer available.

At the national level, 67 percent of ICU beds were utilized and 50 percent of isolation beds were occupied, based on the health department’s data. Fifty-seven percent of ward beds and 48 percent of ventilators were no longer available.

Having an occupancy rate of 60 to 70 percent is at moderate risk, while having an occupancy rate of 85 percent or more is at a critical level.

The Palace has attributed the recent surge in cases to new Covid-19 variants, supposed non-compliance of the public to health protocols, and “super spreader” events.