COVID-19 infections nearing 452,000, with 8,812 deaths

THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 1,135 coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing the total to 451,839.

The death toll rose by 56 to 8,812, while recoveries increased by 173 to 418,867, it said in a bulletin.

There were 24,160 active cases, 84.7% of which were mild, 6.4% did not show symptoms, 5.7% were critical, 2.9% were severe and 0.3% were moderate.

Rizal province reported the highest number of new cases at 117, Bulacan at 84, Quezon City at 71, Isabela at 39 and Laguna at 38.

DoH said 29 duplicates had been removed from the tally, while 20 cases tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths. Thirteen laboratories failed to submit their data on Dec. 14.

The coronavirus has sickened about 73.2 million and killed 1.6 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

About 51.4 million people have recovered, it said.

Carlito Galvez, Jr., the chief enforcer of anti-COVID-19 efforts, this week said the government was expected to finalize this week a procurement deal for coronavirus vaccines with Chinese drug maker Sinovac Biotech Ltd. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas