Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 18) — The Department of Health on Sunday reported 10,098 new COVID-19 infections, along with a record rise in the country’s recovery count.
The total number of infected has climbed to 936,133, of which 141,089 or 15.1% are active cases, the department’s tally showed. This does not cover the latest data from seven testing laboratories which have yet to submit their results.
The DOH added that 72,607 more patients have recuperated — the country’s biggest daily jump in recoveries since the pandemic began. This brought the survivor count to 779,084, which represents 83.2% of the overall case tally.
Meanwhile, the death toll has reached 15,960, with the case fatality rate standing at 1.70%. This came after the country logged 150 more fatalities, of which 48 were mistakenly reported as recoveries in previous reports.
After final validation, the DOH said 17 duplicate entries, including seven survivors, were also removed from the overall figures.
The daily positivity rate remained high at 17.2% as of noon of April 17, based on the bulletin. This refers to the percentage of infected people out of all tested on the same day. Aside from widespread viral transmission, experts said a high percentage suggests the need to augment the testing capacity as more cases are likely left undetected.
Among Filipinos abroad, the COVID-19 tally remained at 18,141, including 11,142 recoveries and 1,115 deaths, with the Department of Foreign Affairs receiving no new reports.
