2nd highest single-day tally: COVID-19 hits 17,447 more individuals

(FILE) A man grimaces as he undergoes nose swabbing for a COVID-19 test in Tondo, Manila.—GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday reported 17,447 new COVID-19 cases—the second-highest single-day tally in additional coronavirus infections since the pandemic began.

The DOH said there are now 1,916,461 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, of which 142,531 or 7.4 percent are active cases.

The highest single-day rise in cases was recorded on August 23 when the DOH confirmed 18,332 more COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, the DOH said 6,771 more COVID-19 patients have recovered, raising the number of individuals who have recovered from the disease to 1,741,089. However, another 133 patients have died, pushing the death count to 32,841.

Some 26.1 percent of 70,396 people who were tested were found positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus on Wednesday, according to DOH.

All laboratories were operational on Wednesday but one laboratory was not able to submit its data on time. Based on data in the last two weeks, the sole non-reporting lab contributes 0.1 percent of samples tested and 0.1 percent of positive individuals on average.

The DOH also removed 186 duplicate cases from the total case count, while 47 cases that were initially counted as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

/MUF