THE number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases reported daily over the past seven days has dipped below the 2,500-mark, the latest case bulletin of the Department of Health (DOH) showed.
The report showed an average of 2,449 cases daily for the period of August 29 to September 4, or a total of 17,145 COVID-19 infections.
The figure is 10 percent lower than cases reported during the week of August 22 to 28.
According to the report, Mindanao is showing signs of plateauing, while Visayas is on a plateau. The rest of the areas are on a slow downward trend.
There were 40 additional severe and critical cases, while 354 deaths were reported over the past seven days.
The DOH said there are currently 768 severe and critical cases in the country, as of September 4, of which 595 are occupying ICU beds, or 23.5 percent of the 2,529 total nationwide.
On the other hand, there are 5,974 COVID-19 patients occupying COVID-19 beds, which is 29.3 percent of the 20,387 total COVID-19 beds allocated nationwide.
Also on Monday, the DOH reported that more than 600 additional cases of COVID-19 Omicron subvariants were detected in its September 2 genome sequencing.
The new cases included 624 BA.5 cases, 13 BA.4 cases, and 1 BA.2.12.1 cases.
All regions, except in Eastern Visayas, recorded additional BA.5 cases. The subvariants were also detected from 19 returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).
For the additional BA.4 cases, the DOH said 11 were from Soccsksargen, while Central Luzon and Central Visayas had one case each.
For the lone additional BA.2.12.1 case, it was detected in Central Luzon.
The DOH said the additional Omicron subvariant cases were detected from 748 samples that were sequenced.
