THE Department of Health (DOH) today logged 356 new COVID-19 infections today, lower than yesterday’s 543 count, according to the DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, December 7, 2021.
This brings the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 2,835,345 cases.
Today’s number is the lowest recorded since July 2020.
Active cases, on the other hand, dipped further to 13,026 cases today from yesterday’s 13,548 count. Active cases are patients undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
Recoveries from COVID-19 today, meanwhile, went up slightly to 871 from yesterday’s 830 count. Overall, COVID-19 recoveries in the country have reached a total of 2,772,728 cases.
The DOH also recorded 92 fatalities today compared to yesterday’s 113 to bring the total COVID-19 deaths at 49,591 to close in on the 50k level.
Positivity rate today, meanwhile, went down as well to 1.4 percent based on 24,360 people who were tested.
Around 47.7 percent of the cases were mild and asymptomatic, the DOH bulletin noted.
A total of six duplicates were removed from the total case count, where the six were recoveries.
Also, about 159 cases were found to have tested negative and have been removed from the total case count, and 157 were recoveries.
However, 87 cases earlier tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
Two laboratories were not operational on December 5, 2021 while six laboratories were not able to submit its data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS). Based on data in the last 14 days, the eight laboratories contribute, on average, 0.4 percent of samples tested and 3.6 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.