COVID-19 infections at 1.12 million, with 18,714 deaths — DoH

THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 4,842 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, bringing the total to 1.12 million.

The death toll rose by 94 to 18,714, while recoveries increased by 8,312 to 1.05 million, it said in a bulletin.

There were 53,214 active cases, 1.4% of which were critical, 93% were mild, 2.4% did not show symptoms, 1.9% were severe and 1.23% were moderate.

The agency traced the low tally to fewer samples from laboratories on Monday.

It said 30 duplicates had been removed from the tally, 21 of which were tagged as recoveries and one as death. Thirty-five recoveries were reclassified as deaths.

About 11.6 million Filipinos have been tested for the coronavirus as of May 10, according to DoH’s tracker website.

The coronavirus has sickened about 160.4 million and killed 3.3 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.

About 138.2 million people have recovered, it said.

Meanwhile, the Health department said more than 2.5 million Filipinos have been vaccinated against the coronavirus as of May 11.

Of the total, only about 514,655 people received their second dose, Health Undersecretary Myrna C. Cabotaje told a televised news briefing.

She said almost 1.2 million health workers out of the 1.5-million target had received their first dose. The rest have completed their vaccination.

Ms. Cabotaje said more than 466,000 of 7.7 million senior citizens have received their first dose. About 25,070 already completed their vaccination.

About 134,343 seriously ill people have received their first dose. More than 8,900 essential workers also got partially vaccinated.

Ms. Cabotaje said the government seeks to vaccinate at least 70,000 Filipinos daily next month.

The Philippines last week received more than two million doses of the vaccine made by AstraZeneca Plc under a global initiative for equal access. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza