Philippines logs 890 new COVID-19 cases; active tally down to 17K

The Philippines on Wednesday registered 890 additional COVID-19 infections, increasing the country's total case count to 2,828,660.

This is the third time that the Department of Health (DOH) reported less than 1,000 new virus cases. On November 16, it recorded 849 additional COVID-19 cases, the lowest since January 3, 2021, with 891 new cases.

In DOH's COVID-19 case bulletin, the active tally decreased to 17,864 from 18,721 active cases recorded on Tuesday.

Of the 17,864, 53.4% are mild, 4.8% are asymptomatic, 21.39% are moderate, 14.4% are severe, and 6.0% are in critical condition.

Ngayong 4 PM, Nobyembre 24, 2021, ang Department of Health ay nakapagtala ng 890 na karagdagang kaso ng COVID-19. Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 1,710 na gumaling at 200 na pumanaw.

Sa kabuuang bilang ng mga naitalang kaso sa bansa, 0.6% (17,864) ang aktibong kaso, pic.twitter.com/UEwcv2ApbF

— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) November 24, 2021

The total number of recoveries nationwide reached 2,763,114, with 1,710 new ones.

Meanwhile, the Philippines death tally rose to 47,682 after reporting 200 more fatalities.

As for Philippines' COVID-19 positivity rate, it remained below 5%, with 2.5% which is slightly higher than the 2.3% positivity rate recorded on Tuesday.

These positivity rates complied with the World Health Organization's requirement target of less than 5% positivity rate. However, the country's total conducted COVID-19 tests were 32,254. 

DOH figures also indicated that 31% of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide are in use while 29% ICU beds in Metro Manila are utilized.

Isolation beds in the country are 28% occupied while isolation beds in the National Capital Region are 25% utilized.

After further validation, DOH once again revised its total case count after deleting 17 duplicates, including 15 recoveries.

Moreover, 33 infections were found negative and were removed from the total case count. Of the 33, 19 are recoveries.

Further, a total of 179 recoveries were reclassified as deaths.

The DOH also revealed that two laboratories were not operational on November 22, 2021, with three laboratories not able to provide their data to COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS).

These five labs, on an average, contribute 1.8% of samples tested and 1.5% of positive individuals, DOH pointed out.—LDF, GMA News