EIGHT-SIX more patients succumbed to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while 5,966 new cases were reported by the Department of Health yesterday, raising the number of infections in the country to 1,436,369.
In its latest bulletin, the DOH said the death toll from the deadly virus climbed to 25,149 for a case fatality rate of 1.75. The death toll breached the 25K mark last Saturday when 90 more deaths were reported, while 177 died last Friday.
Only one laboratory was not able to submit data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS) last July 2.
There were 52,708 active cases, with 91.1 percent mild cases, 3.8 percent asymptomatic cases, 2.1 percent severe cases, 1.5 percent moderate cases, and 1.4 percent critical cases.
There were 6,987 more recoveries, raising the total number of survivors to 1,358,512. The DOH said this means that 94.6 percent of COVID patients have recovered.
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign said it did not receive any report of new COVID cases and fatalities among overseas Filipinos.
The number of overseas Filipinos who have contracted the virus remained at 20,881 while the death toll stood at 1, 237. Majority of the cases and deaths remained in the Middle East and African regions with 11,855 and 830, respectively.
As cases in Metro Manila continued to be erratic, the independent OCTA Research Team echoed the warning of the DOH for the public not to be complacent against the deadly virus.
In a radio interview, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said the call especially goes out to persons who have been vaccinated in the National Capital Region (NCR) who may be harboring a false sense of security.
“Maybe, there are some who had their first dose and felt it is already okay to go out just like the old normal. But that is not the case here. Let’s continue following health protocols,” said David. “Those who already had their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine should not be complacent because their level of protection of vaccines is still low.”
The DOH had already warned the public against complacency, saying it is a “crucial time” for Metro Manila as “slight” increases may quickly turn into surges.
David issued the reminder after OCTA noted last Friday that Metro Manila had an average of 686 new cases per day from June 25 to July 1, five percent higher than the previous week’s daily average of 654 new cases.
David said the numbers in NCR, earlier classified as being “low risk,” are currently volatile and changes constantly.
“The trend in the National Capital Region is quite unstable. What that means is there are some local government units that have seen a slight increase in cases,” he said. “We have seen this over the past two weeks already.” — With Ashzel Hachero
