New COVID-19 cases today at 3,656, a new 14-week low

THE Department of Health (DOH) logged 3,656 new COVID-19 infections today, lower than yesterday’s 4,496 count, according to the DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, October 20, 2021.

This brings the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 2,735,369 cases.

The number of cases today is the lowest in the past 14 weeks when the DOH tallied 3,604 cases last July 13, 2021.

Active cases, on the other hand, went back up to 67,061 cases today after registering a 63,637 count yesterday. Active cases or patients are those undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.

Recoveries from COVID-19 today, meanwhile, shot down sharply to 228 after posting 9,609 yesterday to bring the total number of COVID-19 recoveries to 2,627,331 cases.

The DOH also reported only five COVID-19 fatalities today compared to yesterday’s 211 count to bring the total COVID-19 deaths to 40,977.

According to the DOH, the low number of reported recoveries and deaths today were again due to technical issues with COVIDKaya. The additional recoveries and deaths shall be reflected in the case bulletin in the following days.

The DOH also assures the public that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is addressing these issues.

Positivity rate today, meanwhile, went down further to 11.6 percent from yesterday’s 12.5 percent from 42,296 people who were tested.

Majority, or 84.7 percent of the cases, are mild and asymptomatic.

A total of 20 duplicates were removed from the total case count, of which 16 were recoveries.

There were also two cases found to have tested negative and were already removed from the total case count and already declared as recoveries.

Also, five cases tagged earlier as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.

All laboratories were operational on October 18, 2021 while two 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 two non-reporting laboratories contributed, on average, 0.5 percent of samples tested and 1.2 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. It 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.

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