THE Department of Health (DOH) recorded a total of 11,085 new COVID-19 cases today, slightly higher versus yesterday’s 10,035 total, according to the latest DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, August 18, 2021.
The DOH said the relatively low number of cases today is due to lower laboratory output last Monday.
With the additional cases today, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country is now at 1,776,495.
Also, the number of active cases slightly dipped as well to 105,151 compared to yesterday’s 105,787 count. Active cases or patients are those undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
A total of 161 COVID-19 deaths were registered today, much higher than yesterday’s 96 total. This brings the total number of COVID-19 fatalities today to 30,623.
Positivity rate went up slightly to 23.4 percent from yesterday’s 22.2 percent, with 46,644 people who were tested.
The DOH also logged 11,628 new recoveries from the COVID-19 disease today, slightly higher than the 10,858 recoveries posted yesterday.
Currently, there are now 1,640,721 individuals listed as total recoveries.
Majority, or 97.0 percent of the cases, are mild and asymptomatic.
A total of 265 duplicates were removed from the total case count, of which 259 were recoveries.
Also, 74 cases tagged earlier as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
All laboratories were operational on August 16, 2021 while nine 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 nine non-reporting laboratories contribute, on average, 3.9 percent of samples tested and 5.6 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.