COVID-19 cases in PH now at 164,474

The total number of cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines increased to 164,474 yesterday, August 17, with 3,314 new confirmed cases added to the tally, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

The Health department also reported 237 new recoveries, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 112,759 while a total of 18 patients succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 2,681.

According to the department, the new confirmed cases were reported based on the total tests done by 91 out of 105 current operational laboratories in the country.

Of the 3,314 reported cases, 2,854 or 86 percent occurred within the recent 14 days (August 4-17, 2020). The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were the National Capital Region with 1,656 or 58 percent, Region 4-A with 672 or 24 percent and Region 3 with 131 or 5 percent of the total new confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, of the 18 deaths, four were in August, 12 in July, and two in June. These were reported from the National Capital Region, Regions 4-A, 7, 3, 10, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

The department noted that there were 93 duplicates that were removed from the total case count. Of these, 64 recovered cases and two deaths have been removed.

With the new reported cases, there are now a total 49,034 active cases. It was disclosed that 91.1 percent of the active cases are mild cases, 6.5 percent are asymptomatic, 1 percent are severe cases, and 1.4 percent are in critical condition.

At present, 51 percent of the total intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the country are occupied while 46 percent of the isolation beds are used. Fifty-one percent of ward beds and 30 percent of ventilators nationwide are also occupied.

Seventy percent of both ICU beds and isolation beds dedicated to COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region are occupied while 79 percent of ward beds and 48 percent ventilators are in use.