The country’s daily average of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases went up by 24 percent from July 25 to 31, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Monday.

From 2,791 per day from July 18 to 24, the number of Covid-19 cases reached 3,443 daily from July 25 to 31.

The latest case bulletin showed that there were 24,100 new cases and one verified death in the recent week.

For the same period, 44 cases were added to the tally of severe and critical infections, which went up to 744 from the previous week’s 666.

Only 23.3 percent or 601 out of the 2,583 intensive care unit (ICU) beds are in use, while 29.5 percent or 6,505 of 22,051 non-ICU beds are utilized.

To date, about 71,700,612 or 91.81 percent of the country’s target population (78,100,578) are vaccinated against Covid-19, including 77.87 percent of 8,721,357 senior citizens.

As of July 31, a total of 16,215,466 have received booster shots out of the total 71,700,612 who are fully vaccinated.

Over the weekend, the DOH said it was confident in the accuracy of case reporting and surveillance performed by its units.

While the antigen test results are not yet counted in the case reports, the DOH said they are being monitored through the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Units which track the compliance of antigen test reporting from local government units and health facilities.

The agency said Covid-19 hospitals beds and intensive care unit utilization rates stay low despite an observed increase in cases. (PNA)