THE Department of Health (DOH) recorded a total of 17,231 new COVID-19 cases today, an all-time high in terms of new cases recorded in a single day since the pandemic began, according to the latest DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, August 20, 2021.
With the additional cases today, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country is now at 1,807,800.
Also, the number of active cases shot up to 123,251 compared to yesterday’s 111,720 count. Active cases or patients are those undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
A total of 317 COVID-19 deaths were registered today, much higher than yesterday’s 258 total. This brings the total number of COVID-19 fatalities today to 31,198.
Positivity rate went up slightly to 26.1 percent from yesterday’s 23.8 percent, with 64,934 people who were tested.
The DOH also logged 5,595 new recoveries from the COVID-19 disease today, much lower than the 8,428 recoveries posted yesterday.
Currently, there are now 1,653,351 individuals listed as total recoveries.
Majority, or 97.3 percent of the cases, are mild and asymptomatic.
A total of 434 duplicates were removed from the total case count, of which 424 were recoveries.
Also, one case previously tagged as a recovery was validated to be an active case and 221 cases tagged earlier as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
All laboratories were operational on August 18, 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, 0.03 percent of samples tested and 0.08 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.