Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases went down for the second day on Monday even as the Department of Health (DOH) said cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) are on a ''slow downward trend.''

On Monday, COVID-19 cases came in at 18, 937 from Sunday's 19, 271. This put total cases at 2, 385, 616 out of which 176, 850 are active.

Mild cases accounted for 92.7 percent of active cases, with 2.7 percent asymptomatic and 2.61 percent moderate.

Recoveries reached 20, 171 to bring the total to 2, 171, 832.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a virtual forum, said NCR, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic showed '' a slow downward trend with reported cases decreased by 13 percent versus previous 7 days."

NCR had lower average daily cases for September 13 to September 19 with 5,136 cases. This is lower than 5,916 from September 6 to September 12.

For the entire country, average daily cases for September 13 to 19 is at 19,963, while the average for September 6 to 12 was 20,950.

Vergeire said this took place despite a moderate two-week growth rate of 18 percent and high average daily attack rate of 18.56.

"National and some regions show a slowing down in the increase in cases. However, national case classification remains at high risk," said Vergeire.

There were 146 persons who died from COVID-19 to bring total fatalities of 36, 934.

Vergeire said deaths from COVID-19 peaked in August with 4, 816 and 155 per day. From Sept 1 to 19, there are 1,888 deaths, with a daily average of 99.

ICU bed utilization rate is 79 percent for the NCR and 77 percent for the entire country. Hospital bed use is 72 percent in NCR and 71 for the country. DMS