DOH: 82,228 persons in PH still sick due to COVID; 8,615 more get virus

COVID-19 test_positive. STOCK PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) reported 8,615 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and that 82,228 individuals in the country remain ill due to the virus.

This is the second day that the health agency reported new cases that are only over 8,000. However, the DOH said the lower number of cases was due to low testing laboratory output last Sunday.

The DOH likewise said in its bulletin that an additional 25,146 patients were able to recover from the respiratory ailment, increasing the tally of recoveries to 2,561,248 while 236 others died of the viral disease, raising the toll to 39,896.

It further pointed out that 15.5 percent of the 34,175 people who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 were found positive for the coronavirus last Sunday.

Meanwhile, 57 duplicates, including 38 recoveries, have been removed from the total case count, as 120 recoveries have been reclassified as deaths after final validation, according to the DOH.

It also said that three testing laboratories were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System, noting that the said laboratories contributed an average of 0.4 percent of samples tested and 0.4 percent of positive individuals in the last 14 days.

On healthcare utilization, the DOH said 68 percent of ICU beds, 52 percent of isolation beds, 54 percent of ward beds, and 50 percent of ventilators are currently being used.

KGA