PH logs 291 new COVID-19 infections, active cases down to 9,000

Healthcare workers in Ilocos Sur get swab samples to test individuals for COVID-19. (Photo courtesy of Vigan city government)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Saturday recorded 291 new COVID-19 cases to bring the country’s caseload to 2,837,555, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.

The DOH said that of the 291 new reported cases, 260 or 89 percent were recorded in the recent 14 days (December 5-18).

Of the total caseload, only 9,924 or 0.3 percent of infections are still tagged as active cases. Of these, 43.9 percent have mild or no symptoms.

Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries is now at 2,776,956, or 97.9 percent of all cases after 523 new COVID-19 recoveries were reported.

There are also 106 new deaths due to COVID-19 to bring the total death toll to 50,675, which is 1.79 percent of all cases.

The DOH noted that 187 cases — all recoveries — were found to have tested negative and have since been removed from the total case tally, while 97 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

Meanwhile, the global COVID-19 caseload is now at 273.6 million, including 5.34 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Case Tracker.

/MUF