PH posts lowest new COVID-19 cases so far in 2021 at 168; 10 more deaths

FILE PHOTO: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (red) infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow), also known as novel coronavirus, isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH/Handout via REUTERS.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines recorded its lowest fresh COVID-19 infections so far this year at 168, as well as the death of 10 more patients, a report of the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday showed.

The new COVID-19 cases drove the overall count to 2,837,719 as of December 21 while the newly-registered death cases pushed the total number of fatalities due to the new coronavirus disease to 50,794 since the pandemic hit the Philippines in 2020.

Of the recorded 168 new COVID-19 cases, the DOH explained, 159 were from tests conducted in the past two weeks while six of the reported fatalities Tuesday happened earlier this month, two in November, one in August, and one in May last year.

According to the DOH, the issue of late encoding of deaths to the COVIDKaya system is being addressed.

“This issue is currently being coordinated with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Units to ensure information is up to date,” it said.

The DOH likewise announced Tuesday the recovery of 372 coronavirus patients, bringing the nationwide sum of recoveries to 2,777,541.

At the same time, the health agency said the country’s active cases were at 9,384 – which include 3,406 moderate cases, 3,289 mild cases, 1,804 severe cases, 508 asymptomatic cases, and 377 critical cases.

On December 19, some 22,964 people were tested for SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus strain that causes the respiratory disease COVID-19. Test conducted that day yielded a 0.9-percent positivity rate. But four laboratories involved in that testing were not operational that day while 20 others failed to submit their data, the DOH said.

Additionally, the DOH declared it has made adjustments in its COVID-19 case count.

It said that 179 cases that were labeled as recovered patients were validated to have actually tested negative from the virus and thus, removed from the total case count.

“Moreover, six (6) cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” it added.

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