MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) reported Monday another all-time high increase in COVID-19 cases as it confirmed the infection of 33,169 more people in the country.
This latest figure propelled active coronavirus cases nationwide to 157,526 and the total count to 2,998,530 since the pandemic struck the Philippines in 2020.
The DOH said 97.1 percent of the active cases were either mild or asymptomatic. Specifically, it said 147,912 people manifested mild COVID-19 symptoms while 4,994 were asymptomatic, and that 2,858 were deemed moderate cases while 1,461 were severe and 309 were critical.
Monday’s report of the DOH is also the third consecutive day the country is seeing record-breaking numbers. On Sunday the government said it recorded 28,707 new COVID-19 cases, and on Saturday, January 8, some 26,548 new cases.
Likewise, the positivity rate has been going up – now 46 percent of the 73,234 tests recently conducted, according to the health agency.
This positivity rate is way above the World Health Organization’s threshold of 5 percent which indicates controlled transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the latest coronavirus strain that causes the serious respiratory illness COVID-19.
READ: PH logs 28,707 new COVID-19 cases; positivity rate at 44 percent
Based on the DOH’s report on Monday, 99 percent or 32,972 of the new infections were logged within the last 14 days. It also showed that Metro Manila is again the top region that posted the highest number at 18,535 new cases (56 percent) in the recent two weeks, followed by Region 4-A with 7,443 (23 percent) and Region 3 with 3,403 (10 percent).
At the same time, the DOH said it recently recorded the recovery of 3,725 patients, bringing the total number of recoveries to 2,788,711, as well as the passing of 145 coronavirus-hit people to increase the death toll to 52,293 since 2020.
Ten laboratories were not able to submit their data on the coronavirus tests they performed on January 8 to the COVID-19 Document Repository System, according to the DOH, and then explaining: “Based on data in the last 14 days, the 10 labs contribute, on average, 6.2% of samples tested and 6.3% of positive individuals.”
The health agency likewise said that 86 duplicates, including 73 recoveries and two deaths, were removed from the total case count; and that 124 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.
Earlier, the DOH has said that the increase in new coronavirus cases hints at a high possibility of local transmission of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2, which is feared to be more transmissible than even the Delta variant.
RELATED STORIES
Asia grapples with explosive COVID-19 surge due to Omicron variant
DOH confirms 29 more cases of COVID-19 Omicron variant