THE Department of Health (DOH) recorded a total of 14,895 new COVID-19 cases today, much higher than yesterday’s 11,085 total, according to the latest DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, August 19, 2021.
With the additional cases today, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country is now at 1,791,003.
Also, the number of active cases shot up to 111,720 compared to yesterday’s 105,151 count. Active cases or patients are those undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
A total of 258 COVID-19 deaths were registered today, much higher than yesterday’s 161 total. This brings the total number of COVID-19 fatalities today to 30,881
Positivity rate went up slightly to 23.8 percent from yesterday’s 23.4 percent, with 59,828 people who were tested.
The DOH also logged 8,248 new recoveries from the COVID-19 disease today, slightly lower than the 11,688 recoveries posted yesterday.
Currently, there are now 1,648,402 individuals listed as total recoveries.
Majority, or 97.2 percent of the cases, are mild and asymptomatic.
A total of 387 duplicates were removed from the total case count, of which 385 were recoveries.
Also, two cases previously tagged as recoveries have been validated to be active cases 180 cases tagged earlier as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
All laboratories were operational on August 17, 2021 while two 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 two non-reporting laboratories contribute, on average, 0.2 percent of samples tested and 0.3 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.