THE Department of Health (DOH) tallied 14,216 new COVID-19 infections today, slightly higher than yesterday’s 13,827 count, according to the latest DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, September 1, 2021.
And for the first time, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country has now surpassed the 2-million mark 2,003,955 cases.
The DOH said the relatively low number of cases today is due to lower laboratory output last Monday.
Also, the number of active cases marked a slight decline with 140,949, lower than yesterday’s 145,562 count. Active cases or patients are those undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
Also, 86 COVID-19 deaths were registered today, much lower than yesterday’s 118 total. This brings the total number of COVID-19 fatalities today to 33,533.
The DOH also logged 18,754 new recoveries from COVID-19 today, higher than the 16,759 recoveries posted yesterday, which bring total recoveries to 1,829,473 individuals.
Positivity rate slightly inched up to 26.4 percent from yesterday’s 25.4 rate, with 51,473 people who were tested.
Majority, or 97.2 percent of the cases, are mild and asymptomatic.
A total of 118 duplicates were removed from the total case count, of which 91 were recoveries and one is a death.
Also, 37 cases tagged earlier as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
All laboratories were operational on August 30, 2021 while five 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 five non-reporting laboratories contribute, on average, 0.8 percent of samples tested and 0.8 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.