Well-wishers wait for the arrival of passengers at NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City on May 27, 2024. The Bureau of Quarantine recently issued a heightened alert advisory for the COVID-19 FLiRT variant, advising quarantine stations and related agencies to thoroughly screen arriving visitors from countries where COVID-19 FLiRT cases have been reported. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA — The Philippines remains to be at "low risk" for COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday, citing data from the previous week. 

As of May 27, only 14 percent of dedicated COVID-19 ICU beds were occupied, while around 15 percent of total COVID-19 beds were in use, the DOH said.

"Severe and critical COVID-19 cases admitted in various hospitals total to only 185 or 10 percent of total admissions, based on hospital reports in the DOH Data Collect application," the agency said. 

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The DOH also said that the average number of daily reported cases for the week of May 21 to 27 was 319, higher than the previous week's 202, "but is still less than half compared to around 500 per day at the start of this year and also compared to around 1,750 per day in the middle of May 2023."

Out of the new cases reported for the said week, 22 were in severe or critical condition.  

Twenty deaths were recorded, of which 5 occurred in the recent 2 weeks or from May 14 to 27.

Meanwhile, the DOH reported that there was still no evidence that the KP.2 and KP.3, informally known as “FLiRT” variants, are causing severe to critical COVID-19, both locally and internationally.

• DOH orders 'thorough screening' of arrivals from countries with COVID 'FLiRT' cases

The DOH reminded the public to practice good respiratory hygiene, washing hands, and choosing less crowded areas among other preventive measures. 

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