MANILA — The Philippines recorded 2,141 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

This raised the country's total to 3,913,536.

It is the fifth straight day that new cases were below 3,000, ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team head Edson Guido said.

Thirty-one new deaths were also recorded, raising the total number of people in the country who succumbed to the respiratory disease to 62,447.

Active cases stood at 24,843, while those who recovered from the illness have now reached 3,826,246.

Of the newly reported infections, 1,002 are from Metro Manila.

From Sept. 5 to 11, the country recorded an average of 2,197 daily infections, which is 10 percent lower compared to the previous week.

Of the new infections that week, 12 or 0.09 percent were severe and critical.

As of Sunday, 727 or 9.6 percent of COVID-19 admissions were in severe and critical condition, the DOH said.

Some 594 or 23.9 percent of 2,485 intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients were occupied. Meanwhile, the non-ICU bed utilization rate was at 28.2 percent.

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At least 72.7 million people in the country have been fully vaccinated against the respiratory disease, of whom 18.6 million have received their booster shots.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that the number of newly reported COVID-19 cases globally has dropped dramatically, urging the world to seize the opportunity to end the pandemic.

Newly reported cases of the disease, which has killed millions since being identified in late 2019, last week fell to the lowest level since March 2020, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic," he told reporters. "We are not there yet, but the end is in sight."

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- with Agence France-Presse

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