DOH validation of COVID-19 data: 175 ‘recoveries’ are actually fatalities

Logo of the Department of Health over a graphic representation of the SARS-COV 2, which causes coronavirus disease

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 175 COVID-19 cases previously labeled as “recoveries” were later validated to be patients who have died due to the new coronavirus disease, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

In its report, the DOH noted that “10 cases previously tagged as recoveries have been validated to be active cases and 175 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.”

The health agency usually reclassifies a number of COVID-19 cases into other categories. On Friday, it said three cases tagged as recoveries have been validated to be active cases while 85 cases tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

On Wednesday, the DOH said three cases initially counted as recoveries have been found to be active cases while 112 cases that were tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths.

Meanwhile, the department also removed on Friday 238 duplicates, including 229 recoveries, in its  COVID-19 data.

On Thursday, it said 116 duplicates were removed from the tally; on Wednesday, some 137 duplicates were removed; on Tuesday, 118 were removed; and on Monday, 102 duplicates were removed from its data of coronavirus cases. Most of the duplicates are recoveries.

DOH has yet to respond to INQUIRER.net’s request for clarification on the high number of case duplicates being reported and the recoveries being reclassified as deaths.

Friday’s case bulletin also showed 68 percent of 1,200 intensive care unit beds in Metro Manila are currently being utilized, an increase from the 60 percent reported on Thursday. The DOH told reporters in a Viber message that it is checking its data considering the difference of figures in just one day.

The country now has 96,395 active cases from the 1.7 million total confirmed cases since the pandemic started last year. Friday’s 13,177 new COVID-19 infections were the second highest, next to the 15,310 cases reported on April 2 that include 3,790 case backlogs.

KGA