THE Department of Health (DOH) recorded a sharp drop in new COVID-19 infections today with 28,471 cases compared to yesterday’s 37,070 based on the DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued January 18, 2022.
This pushed the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 3,270,758 cases.
Active cases, on the other hand, dipped to 284,458 today from yesterday’s 290,938 cases. Active cases are patients undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
Recoveries from COVID-19 today rose slightly to 34,892 cases from yesterday’s 33,940 count. Overall, COVID-19 recoveries in the country is now at 2,933,338 cases.
COVID-19 fatalities, meanwhile, rose to 34 from yesterday’s 23 to bring the total COVID-19 deaths to 52,962.
Positivity rate today also went down to 43.4 percent from yesterday’s 46.0 percent with 51,738 people tested.
Also, 98.3 percent of the cases were mild and asymptomatic, the DOH bulletin noted.
A total of 87 duplicates were removed from the total case count, with 57 counted as recoveries and one is a death.
There were also four cases tagged earlier as recoveries but were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
All laboratories were operational on January 16, 2022, but five laboratories failed to submit data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS). Based on data in the last 14 days, the five laboratories contribute, on average, 1.7 percent of samples tested and 2.1 percent of positive individuals.
The agency continues to remind the public not to become complacent and continue to be vigilant against the threat of COVID-19 and make it a habit to follow the minimum public health standards and to always wear face masks, and also face shields whenever necessary, maintain physical distancing and washing of hands. 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.