THE Department of Health (DOH) recorded a total of 10,035 new COVID-19 cases today, which is lower versus yesterday’s 14,610 total, according to the latest DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, August 17, 2021.
The DOH said the relatively low number of cases today is due to lower laboratory output last Sunday.
With the additional cases today, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country is now at 1,765,675.
Also, the number of active cases slightly dipped as well to 105,787 compared to yesterday’s 106,672 count. Active cases or patients are those undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
A total of 96 COVID-19 deaths were registered today, much higher than yesterday’s 27 total. This brings the total number of COVID-19 fatalities today to 30,462.
Positivity rate slightly dipped to 22.2 percent compared to yesterday’s 23.0 percent, with 38,243 people who were tested.
The DOH also logged 10,858 new recoveries from the COVID-19 disease today, slightly higher than the 10,674 recoveries posted yesterday.
Currently, there are now 1,629,426 individuals listed as total recoveries.
Majority, or 97.1 percent of the cases, are mild and asymptomatic.
A total of 206 duplicates were removed from the total case count, of which 201 were recoveries.
Also, 39 cases tagged earlier as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
All laboratories were operational on August 15, 2021 while six laboratories were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS). Based on data in the last 14 days, the six non-reporting laboratories contribute, on average, 1.2 percent of samples tested and 1.4 percent of positive individuals.
The agency continues to remind the public to ensure their safety and to strictly observe safety protocols and to have themselves vaccinated as soon as possible. The DOH also reiterates that the safety of the country is everyone’s responsibility, and that by helping each other, the country will overcome this COVID-19 pandemic.