Test tube of sample, positive for new coronavirus. File Photo
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has recorded 5,735 additional patients of serious respiratory illness COVID-19, raising nationwide active cases to 56,273 as of Thursday.
In its latest bulletin, the health agency also reported the recovery of 4,069 patients as well as the death of 176 others.
As of July 29, the country’s total recovered cases and fatalities reached 1,488,437 and 27,577, respectively.
Since the pandemic hit the Philippines in 2020, the DOH has already confirmed 1,572,287 cases of the new coronavirus disease.
Meanwhile, 16.2 percent of 49,392 people tested were found positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, July 27.
The DOH said all laboratories, except one that was not operational that day, were able to submit their data on time. It also said the non-operational lab contributes 1.6 percent of samples tested and 1.1 percent of positive individuals on average based on data in the last 14 days.
The health agency further disclosed that 114 duplicates, including 32 recovered cases, were removed from the total count while 132 cases previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.
Earlier in the day, the DOH said the country is back at moderate risk classification for the COVID-19 case trend after recording an increase in cases in the middle of July. On July 1, the country was placed at low-risk classification for the COVID-19 case trend.
The revision of the risk classification comes as the DOH reports more cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19. The country has so far confirmed 216 cases of the highly transmissible variant, including the 97 cases that were announced on Thursday.