Philippines reports 16,989 new COVID-19 cases; active tally at 170K

The Philippines' tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases rose to on 2,283,011 on Wednesday with 16,989 new infections as four laboratories failed to submit data on time.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), the low case count is due to a lower laboratory output on Monday.

The country’s active cases now stands at 170,446.

Of this, 85.4% are mild, 9.8% are asymptomatic, 1.4% are severe, and 0.7% are in critical condition.

The DOH also announced that total recoveries climbed to 2,076,823 after 24,123 more patients recovered from the illness while 214 new fatalities brought the death toll to 35,742.

A total of 44 duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count.

“Moreover, 135 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the DOH said.

Based on reports on September 13, the Philippines was also able to test 57,034 individuals, of which 25.9% tested positive for the illness.

The OCTA Research group earlier said that Metro Manila’s virus reproduction number slightly dropped this week even as the region continues to post an average of more than 5,000 COVID-19 cases each day.—LDF, GMA News