New DOH data reconciliation system kicks up COVID-19 numbers

ENDURANCE TEST People line up at 6 p.m. Wednesday to stay overnight for the 8 a.m. Thursday start of free coronavirus testing at Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center in Manila, which can handle only 100 people a day. They need the test for work and travel but do not have the money to pay for the expensive tests available at hospitals. —RICHARD A. REYES

The government’s COVID-19 task force confirmed 3,954 additional infections on Thursday, the country’s largest single-day increase in new coronavirus cases.

The information on the surge in infections, which was a sharp increase from the record 2,539 cases confirmed on July 8, was mentioned in a regular circular issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a temporary government body overseeing the Duterte administration’s response to the new coronavirus pandemic.

In its own report for Thursday, the Department of Health (DOH) said 3,954 additional infections were recorded for the day, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 89,374.

Improved

The DOH said the surge in infections was the result of its improved data reconciliation program with local governments for monitoring the status of COVID-19 cases.

Earlier this month, the DOH set up a COVID-19 surveillance and quick action unit, which now concentrates on data collection, validation, and reconciliation of information available at the national and local levels

The unit uses a digital epidemiological surveillance information system to minimize encoding errors.

“These massive data reconciliation efforts have resulted in faster and more accurate tagging of health statuses, particularly on deaths and recoveries,” the DOH said.

The continuing rise in the number of infections is the result of the unit’s work.

According to the DOH’s report for Thursday, the additional infections included 1,320 fresh cases, or patients who tested positive for the new coronavirus in the last three days, and 2,634 cases, or people who tested positive four days ago or earlier.

Mass recoveries

The DOH also reported 38,075 recoveries, a giant leap also resulting from its improved data reconciliation system. The figure brought the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 65,064.

The change also includes the retagging of mild and asymptomatic cases as “recoveries,” which the coronavirus task force approved. Malacañang announced the reclassification late Thursday.

The task force also approved the DOH recommendation of reckoning recovery from the onset of illness.

“Time-based reckoning of recoveries of mild and asymptomatic patients who have completed 14 days of isolation from the date of onset of illness or specimen collection shall be immediately implemented,” the task force said in a resolution.

The task force directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government to inform local governments of the change.

The DOH report for Thursday also showed that 23 more patients had died, bringing the death toll to 1,983. —REPORTS FROM TINA G. SANTOS AND JULIE M. AURELIO