DOH reports only 1,019 new COVID-19 cases due to lower laboratory output

FILE PHOTO: A medical professional takes samples from a person undergoing an RT-PCR test. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday reported just a little over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases. But it also explained that this was due to lower laboratory output on Sunday.

According to the latest DOH bulletin, the 1,019 new cases, 2,988 recoveries, and 13 deaths brought the currently active cases of COVID-19 to 56,668.

“Please note that lower reported numbers and positivity rate today are because these are Sunday laboratory outputs, which traditionally have the lowest outputs per week,” it noted.

Of the active cases, 91.9 percent are either mild or asymptomatic. A total of 704 are asymptomatic, 51,395 are mild, 2,840 are moderate, 1,425 are severe, and 304 are critical.

The country has so far confirmed 3,654,284 cases of COVID-19 since 2020. Of this, 3,541,840 are recoveries and 55,776 are fatalities.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate was at 6.4 percent of the 18,177 individuals who got tested for coronavirus on Sunday, February 20.

The DOH likewise said 29 percent of intensive care unit (ICU) beds, 24 percent of isolation beds, and 19 percent of ward beds nationwide for COVID-19 patients are being used. In Metro Manila, 26 percent of ICU beds, 24 percent of isolation beds, and 26 percent of ward beds are occupied, it added.

All testing laboratories were open on Sunday but five labs were not able to submit their data on time, according to the DOH.

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KGA