Active COVID-19 cases near 80,000-mark with 8,560 new cases

FILE PHOTO: A computer image created by Nexu Science Communication together with Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative of a betacoronavirus which is the type of virus linked to COVID-19, shared with Reuters on February 18, 2020. NEXU Science Communication/via REUTERS

MANILA, Philippines — Active COVID-19 cases are now nearing the 80,000-mark as the Department of Health (DOH) reports 8,560 fresh cases of coronavirus infection on Tuesday.

According to the DOH, there are now 79,016 active COVID-19 cases, among all the 1,676,156 total confirmed cases in the country since the start of the pandemic.

“Daily case counts are affected by the output from the laboratories nationwide. The relatively low case counts today is due to lower laboratory output last Sunday,” the agency said in a statement.

Active cases account for 4.7 percent of all the confirmed cases, but according to DOH, 96.1 percent of these are only mild and asymptomatic cases.

Meanwhile, the health department also logged 7,964 new recoveries, taking the number of patients who have recuperated from the disease to 1,567,920. On the other hand, the death toll is now at 29,220 as the DOH reports 92 more fatalities.

According to the agency, 21.9 percent of 33,070 people who were tested were found positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on Sunday.

The DOH said all laboratories were operational on Sunday but 13 labs were not able to submit their data on time. The 13 non-reporting labs contribute 2.8 percent of samples tested and 2.8 percent of positive individuals on average in the last 14 days.

A total of 118 duplicates, including 114 recoveries, were removed from the total case count. Seven cases earlier counted as recoveries have been validated to be active cases, while 29 cases that were tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

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