Positivity rate is the percentage of positive individuals out of all people tested. A higher percentage suggests higher transmission and that there are likely more people with coronavirus in the community who haven’t been tested yet, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 17) — The country recorded 4,387 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, lifting the total number to 635,698, the Department of Health’s case bulletin stated.
Of this total, 61,733 are active cases or those who are currently ill, equivalent to 9.7% of the tally. It is the highest active case count after Sept. 26 last year when there were over 63,000 sick patients. At least 93% of the active cases have mild symptoms, 3.8% have no symptoms, 1.2% are in critical condition, 1.3% are severe cases and 0.68% are in moderate condition.
The DOH also reported a positivity rate of 14.1% based on data as of 12 nn of March 16 — an increase by 2% compared to the previous day’s rate of 12.1%. Out of 37,608 tested individuals, there were 5,231 that tested positive. It is the highest positivity rate in eight months given that it was in July when the country last recorded a rate of 14%. The department is expected to update the figure when it receives data from six testing laboratories that have yet to submit their reports.
The DOH said five survivors were reclassified as deaths after validation and it removed nine duplicates, including six recoveries.
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed 36 more infected overseas Filipinos. The total number is 15,928 in 88 countries, with 3,756 cases verified by the DOH, the DFA said. The recovery count jumped to 9,645 after 80 patients got better. One person died, bringing the death toll to 1,044. There are 5,239 still undergoing treatment, the department said.
Also on Wednesday, the death toll also rose to 12,866 or 2.02% of the number of infections after 18 more people succumbed to the disease. Meanwhile, 374 cases got better, raising the recovery count to 561,099 or 88.3% of the COVID-19 count.
