The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported 3,550 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections, raising the country’s overall tally to 272,934 with only 60,344 active cases.

Of the active cases, it said that about 87.7 percent are mild, 8.4 percent are asymptomatic, 1.2 percent are severe, and 2.7 percent are in critical condition.

The majority of the newly announced cases are from the National Capital Region (NCR) with 1,459, and the provinces of Rizal with 271, Cavite with 196, Bulacan with 172, and Laguna with 172 infections.

It also logged 524 new recoveries and 69 deaths, bringing the total number of recoveries to 207,858 and the number of deaths to 4,732.

Of the 69 deaths, 34 occurred in September which is 49 percent, 18 in August (26 percent), 10 in July (14 percent), four in June (6 percent), two in May (3 percent), and one in April (1 percent).

The National Capital Region has 24 deaths or 35 percent, Calabarzon with 19 or 28 percent, Western Visayas with 10 or 14 percent, Central Visayas with six or 9 percent, Eastern Visayas with two or 3 percent, Zamboanga Peninsula with two or 3 percent, Soccsksargen with two or 3 percent, Mimaropa with two or 3 percent, Central Luzon with one or 1 percent, and Bicol Region with one or 1 percent.

“There were 23 duplicates that were removed from the total case count and of these, nine recovered cases have been removed. Moreover, there were nine cases previously reported as recovered but after final validation, they were deaths,” the DOH said.

As of Tuesday, the 97 licensed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) laboratories and 29 licensed GeneXpert laboratories have conducted a total of 3,008,239 tests nationwide.

The DOH said it has a 21,500 total bed capacity dedicated to Covid-19 patients.

Occupied are about 50 percent of 1,900 intensive care unit beds; 45 percent of 13,800 isolation beds; and 47 percent of 5,800 ward beds.

About 27 percent of 2,200 ventilators are in use. (PNA)