The bulletin also posted a positivity rate of 19.9% based on data as of noon of April 5. Positivity rate is the percentage of individuals that tested positive out of all patients tested. Although this rate is lower than the previous figures reported in the past few days, the DOH noted that there were only 27,055 tests conducted.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 6) — The country recorded a new all-time high of COVID-19 fatalities in a day after 382 patients were reported dead on Tuesday, the Department of Health’s case bulletin said.
It is higher than the previous Sept. 14 record of 259 deaths, but the DOH explained that the new surge is due to technical issues in its data collection the past week, that left hundreds of fatalities unreported.
“[T]here were 341 deaths prior to April 2021 that went unreported,” the department noted in its bulletin. “The number of deaths reported today (382) already includes the said deaths not reported in previous counts.”
The DOH added that 166 survivors were also reclassified as fatalities after validation.
The death toll is now 13,817 which is 1.70% of the total number of cases. The DOH also reported 9,373 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the total to 812,760. But this does not yet include data from 10 laboratories that have yet to submit their reports, it added.
Active cases or currently ill patients are also at 152,562, equivalent to 18.8% of the COVID-19 total. At least 97.5% of the active cases have mild symptoms, 1.1% have no symptoms, 0.5% are in critical condition, 0.5% are severe cases, and 0.31% in moderate condition.
Meanwhile, 313 more patients got better, raising the recovery count to 646,381 or 79.5% of the case total. The DOH also said it removed 11 duplicates from the count, including three recoveries.
Experts had earlier warned that COVID-19 cases would be lower due to fewer laboratory personnel available to conduct and process tests during the Holy Week break.
However, the rate is still high since the World Health Organization recommended that positivity rates be kept below 5%. Experts said a bigger percentage suggests higher viral transmission within the community and the need to increase testing capacity. The DOH is expected to update the rate later on.
The DOH COVID-19 tracker also gave the updated positivity rate for April 4 at 21.5%, with 5,275 positive tests out of 24,546 tests in total.
Among Filipinos abroad, the Department of Foreign Affairs also reported a surge of 146 new infections. The total is 16,569 in 91 countries with 3,973 cases verified by the DOH, the DFA said. Nine more patients died, while seven more people recovered. The death toll is 1,058 and the survivor count is 10,065, while 5,446 others are undergoing treatment.
