AFTER two consecutive days of lower output, the Department of Health (DOH) today posted a total of 21,261 new COVID-19 infections, much higher than yesterday’s 16,989 cases, according to the DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, September 16, 2021.
This brings the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 2,304,192 cases.
Also, the number of active cases went up again to 177,946 cases from yesterday’s 170,446 count. Active cases or patients are those undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
However, COVID-19 deaths today remained at the 200-plus level with 277, much higher than yesterday’s 214 total. This brings the total number of COVID-19 fatalities today to 36,018.
The DOH reported only 13,644 recoveries today compared to yesterday’s 24,123 to bring the number of total recoveries from COVID-19 to 2,090,228 cases.
However, positivity rate went up again to 27.0 percent from yesterday’s 25.9 percent rate, from 74,149 people who were tested.
Majority, or 95.3 percent of the cases, are mild and asymptomatic.
A total of 80 duplicates were removed from the total case count, of which 65 were recoveries and one is a death.
Also, 174 cases tagged earlier as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
All laboratories were operational on September 14, 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, 0.2 percent of samples tested and 0.3 percent of positive individuals.
Still, 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.