COVID-19 positivity rate increases despite decrease in testing – Duque

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s COVID-19 positivity rate increased despite decreased testing output for the severe respiratory illness, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said during the weekly briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte that aired late Monday night.

According to Duque, the positivity rate increased from the 0.9 % recorded from Dec. 12 to 18  to the 1.9% recorded from Dec. 19 to 25.

“We are also seeing a decline in the demand for testing and our daily testing output, which is currently at 26,356 tests per day,” he said in Filipino.

He also noted that testing output drastically decreased on Christmas Day and on Dec. 26 as many laboratories were closed for the holidays.

On top of that, he said demand for testing in the previous week also saw a decline.

As of Dec. 27, the Philippines has recorded over 2.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 2.7 million are recoveries and 51,211 are fatalities.

Currently, there are 9,579 active cases of the disease, which Duque said, remained low.

“This is still low and the active cases continue to decline,” he said.

READ: PH logs 318 new COVID-19 infections; active cases slightly rise to 9,579

He added that the national utilization rates for COVID-19 facilities remain at low risk: 17% utilization rate for COVID-19 beds; 18% for intensive care unit beds; and 10% for mechanical ventilators.

Independent pandemic monitor OCTA Research said that, despite the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, there was still no need to implement stricter health protocols as this increase might only be due to the holidays and might decrease eventually.

READ: Octa: No need to tighten restrictions yet in NCR despite uptick in COVID cases

ATM