MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday reported record-high 6,958 new Covid-19 infections, raising the overall tally to 136,638.

The DOH said the additional cases reported were based on the total Covid-19 tests done by 74 out of 99 operational laboratories.

Majority of the newly announced cases are from the National Capital Region (NCR) with 4,163 cases, Laguna with 400 cases, Rizal with 363 cases, Cavite with 312 cases and Bulacan with 178 cases. These are currently under the second most stringent modified community quarantine.

Of the new infections recorded, about 5,394 are fresh cases and 1,564 are late cases.

As of Sunday, the 76 licensed RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) laboratories and 24 licensed GeneXpert laboratories have already conducted a total of 1,673,503 tests nationwide.

The DOH said it has 17,400 total bed capacity dedicated to Covid-19 patients.

Occupied are about 54 percent of 1,500 intensive care unit beds; 49 percent of 11,500 isolation beds; and 51 percent of 4,400 ward beds. 

By Ma. Teresa Montemayor, PNA