THE Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, September 7, 2020, reported 1,383 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in about two months.
This is also the second time this month that new cases nationwide went below 2,000 and new infections in the National Capital Region (NCR) were less than 1,000 based on the DOH case bulletins.
The 1,383 new cases Monday were less than the 1,392 cases recorded on July 15, 2020, which was nearly two months ago.
Nearly nine out of 10, or 87 percent, of the new cases occurred in the last two weeks from August 25 to September 7.
The new cases brought the total case count to 238,727, of which 49,931 were active. Active cases refer to patients who are still in the hospitals or in quarantine.
Of the active cases, critical and severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) remained at 2.0 percent (or 20 for every 1,000) and 1.4 percent, respectively. Mild cases comprised 88.3 percent while asymptomatic cases accounted for 8.3 percent.
NCR, or Metro Manila, continued to record the highest new cases, but reported a record low of 525 on Monday.
The provinces with the highest number of new cases were still Laguna with 137, Batangas with 99, Negros Occidental with 77 and Cavite with 69.
The DOH also reported 230 additional recoveries, increasing the total to 184,906.
There were 15 additional deaths, raising the death toll to 3,890.
Of the 15 new deaths, three occurred in September, one in August, five in July, two in June, two in May, one in April and one in March.
Eleven of these deaths were from the NCR while two were from Western Visayas, one from Eastern Visayas and one from Calabarzon.
Twenty-one duplicates were removed from the total case count.
New infections slowed down in the first week of September, averaging 2,363 per day for the period August 31 to September 6, compared to the over 4,000 daily average for the entire month of August.
National Task Force against Covid-19 officials have attributed the slowdown in case growth to the measures being implemented against the spread of Covid-19.
University of the Philippines (UP) experts have said that the epidemic curve is flattening, but DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the public should not be complacent and instead continue complying with the minimum health standards. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/SunStar Philippines)