The DOH also posted a positivity rate of 16.1% based on data as of noon of March 24. Positivity rate is the percentage of individuals who tested positive out of all patients tested that day. There were 35,480 people recently tested which means around 5,712 were positive. The department did not mention the exact number of positive individuals, unlike in previous bulletins.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 25) — For the fourth time in a week, the country broke its all-time high record of new COVID-19 infections in a day after 8,773 more people caught the disease, the Department of Health reported on Thursday.
The total has now reached 693,048 with 14.4% or 99,891 active cases, which is also a new all-time high of currently ill patients. At least 95% of the active cases have mild symptoms, 3% have no symptoms, 0.8% are in critical condition, 0.8% are severe cases, and 0.44% are in moderate condition.
The death toll also climbed to 13,095 or 1.89% of the case count after 56 more people succumbed to the disease. Meanwhile, 574 others got better, raising the recovery count to 580,062, equivalent to 83.7% of the COVID-19 tally.
The DOH said it reclassified seven survivors into fatalities after validation, and removed 36 duplicates, including 23 recoveries.
It is the first time the country recorded a 16% positivity rate since April last year. The World Health Organization recommends that the number be kept below 5%. Experts from the Johns Hopkins University said a higher percentage suggests more widespread transmission and that there are likely more cases which have not yet been detected. However, the DOH will still update the figure as six laboratories have yet to submit their latest COVID-19 data.
The department’s COVID-19 tracker also updated the March 23 positivity rate to 14.9% which is a few points lower than the 15.6% recorded the previous day. Out of 41,793 tested individuals, 6,208 were found positive.
Among overseas Filipinos, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported 31 new cases. This pushed the total to 16,040 cases in 90 countries with 3,852 infections verified by the DOH, the DFA said. Twenty more Filipinos got better, raising the survivor tally to 9,722 while the death toll remained at 1,047. There are also 5,271 people undergoing treatment, the DFA added.
