MANILA (UPDATE) — The Philippines recorded 9,465 COVID-19 cases in the first week of May, according to the Department of Health's latest case bulletin.

From May 1 to 7, an average of 1,352 daily infections were recorded in the country, which is 112 percent higher compared to the previous week.

This is the highest number of weekly cases in 28 weeks, or since the week of October 17 to October 23, 2022, when DOH logged 11,890 cases, according to data from the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.

This is also the eight straight week that the number of weekly cases is above 1,000, ABS-CBN IRG added.

Of the new infections during the week, some 50 cases were considered severe or critical, the DOH said Monday.

As of Sunday, some 410 cases or 8.2 percent of total COVID-19 admissions were in severe and critical condition, the health agency added.

This is 17 percent higher than the previous week, or 59 admissions more than last week's 351 cases, ABS-CBN IRG said.

At least 346 or 16.5 percent of intensive care unit beds for COVID patients were occupied. The non-ICU bed utilization rate was at 21.2 percent.

During the past week, the DOH also verified 9 more COVID-related fatalities, citing late encoding of death information.

• DOH says to convene IATF over WHO's declaration on Covid

Based on the DOH's COVID-19 Tracker, the Philippines has 11,408 active COVID-19 cases as of May 7.

Three years since the pandemic started, over 4.1 million coronavirus infections were tallied in the country. Some 66,453 people have died from the disease.

The World Health Organization last week declared that the COVID-19 no longer constitutes a global health emergency.

The move came after the WHO's independent emergency committee on the COVID crisis agreed during its 15th meeting that the crisis no longer merited the organization's highest level of alert.

But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned the decision did not mean the danger was over, cautioning that the emergency status could be reinstated if the situation changes.

The UN health agency first declared the so-called public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) over the crisis on Jan. 30, 2020.

• COVID no longer a global health emergency: WHO

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— With a report from Agence France-Presse