Severe and critical cases due to COVID-19 have been rising over the past few weeks, Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said Tuesday.
The DOH on Monday reported there were 811 severe and critical cases admitted to hospitals as of Sunday, August 21, representing 9.7% of the total COVID-19 admissions.
Of the 23,883 new COVID-19 cases from August 15 to August 21, 2022, 101 individuals were tagged as new severe or critical cases.
“Yes, we confirm that the number or percentage of severe and critical infections had been noted to be increasing for these past weeks,” Vergeire said at a press conference.
But the Philippines on Tuesday logged 1,735 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily tally since 1,604 were recorded on July 13.
Based on the latest data from the DOH, the active tally also went down to 31,542 from 33,774 on Monday. The new infections brought the nationwide caseload to 3,860,537.
Tuesday’s new cases were the lowest in 41 days and the first time in 35 days that new cases went below 2,000.
Vergeire noted that despite the increase, the number of COVID-19 severe and critical cases has not yet exceeded 1,000 cases or the 10% threshold.
“It is still 800 plus—-we are just in that trend. Although, we do not want to underestimate that number because we do really see that there is an increase in severe and critical cases,” she added.
Vergeire also pointed out that 60% of admitted severe and critical cases in hospitals are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated against COVID-19.
She called on the public to get their primary vaccine series and booster shots to protect themselves from getting serious diseases due to the coronavirus.
The one-week growth rate of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines also declined to minus-14% from the -2% the previous week, OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said on Tuesday.
David told GMA News Online the -2% weekly growth rate was recorded from August 9 to August 15, while the -14% rate was from August 16 to August 22.
OCTA Research had been monitoring a continued decrease in COVID-19 cases in the country recently, David added.
He also noted that the country’s reproduction number was now less than one at 0.97, as of August 19, a decrease from the 1.07 reproduction number logged on August 12.
The reproduction rate refers to the number of people infected by one case. A reproduction number that is below 1 indicates that the transmission of the virus is slowing down.
Meanwhile, in Metro Manila, David said that the COVID-19 growth rate was at -12%, while its reproduction number was at 1.04.
The region’s healthcare utilization rate was “stable” at 37%, he added. The NCR’s intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy was at 31%.
“The level of COVID-19 cases is still significant so we must continue to be careful. But cases in most areas in the Philippines, like the NCR, are declining,” said David.
The decreasing COVID-19 key indicators could be attributed to the country’s vaccination and booster programs, David said.
At least 72.3 million Filipinos or 92.59% of the government’s target population are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the DOH said on Monday.
Meanwhile, some 17.4 million individuals have also received their booster shots.