THE Department of Health (DOH) recorded a total of 14,610 new COVID-19 cases today according to the latest DOH COVID-19 Case Bulletin issued today, August 16, 2021.
The count recorded today is the third highest increase in daily COVID-19 infections after the DOH recorded the second-highest daily case count yesterday at 14,749 cases.
With the additional cases today, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country is now at 1,755,846.
Also, the number of active cases is still going higher with 106,672 recorded today compared to yesterday’s 102,748 count. Active cases or patients are those undergoing treatment in government hospitals and temporary quarantine facilities.
A total of 27 COVID-19 deaths were registered today, much lower than yesterday’s 270 total. This brings the total number of COVID-19 fatalities today to 30,366.
Positivity rate slightly dipped to 23.0 percent compared to yesterday’s 23.5 percent, with 58,471 people who were tested.
The DOH also logged 10,674 new recoveries from the COVID-19 disease today, slightly lower than the 10,720 recoveries posted yesterday.
Currently, there are now 1,618,808 individuals listed as total recoveries.
Majority, or 97.1 percent of the cases, are mild and asymptomatic.
A total of 380 duplicates were removed from the total case count, of which 369 were recoveries.
Also, three cases earlier tagged as recoveries were validated as active cases, and 22 cases tagged earlier as recoveries were reclassified as deaths upon final validation.
All laboratories were operational on August 14, 2021 while seven 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 seven non-reporting laboratories contribute, on average, 1.5 percent of samples tested and 1.6 percent of positive individuals.
The DOH likewise said it is closely monitoring and coordinating submission of mortality data from its hospitals and local government units (LGUs) to minimize delays in the reporting of COVID-19 deaths.
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.