THE Department of Health (DOH) today logged 517 new COVID-19 infections today, slightly lower compared to yesterday’s 544 count, according to the DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, December 4, 2021.
This brings the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 2,834,294 cases.
Active cases, on the other hand, went down further to 14,338 cases today from yesterday’s 14,977 count. Active cases are patients undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
Recoveries from COVID-19 today, meanwhile, shot up to 1,139 compared to yesterday’s 734 count. Overall, COVID-19 recoveries in the country have reached a total of 2,770,726 cases.
The DOH still recorded a high number of fatalities today at 243 compared to yesterday’s 235 to bring the total COVID-19 deaths near the 50-thousand level at 49,230.
Positivity rate today, meanwhile, remained at 1.8 percent based on 35,238 people who were tested.
Around 50.6 percent of the cases were mild and asymptomatic, the DOH bulletin noted.
A total of 7 duplicates were removed from the total case count and of these, 6 were recoveries.
Also, about 94 cases were found to have tested negative and have been removed from the total case count. The 93 were recoveries.
However, 218 cases earlier tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
Two laboratories were not operational on December 2, 2021 while one laboratory was not able to submit its data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS). Based on data in the last 14 days, the three laboratories contribute, on average, 0 percent of samples tested and 0 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.