The daily positivity rate, or rate of individuals that tested positive, stood at 13% out of 44,817 tests conducted as of May 19. The rate continues to stay above the 10% mark over the past few days, which is still high compared to the World Health Organization recommendation that the figure be kept below 5% as higher rates may mean high transmission. The positivity rate earlier peaked at 25% on April 2.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 21) — The country recorded 141 new COVID-19 fatalities on Friday, making it the fourth day in a row that there were more than a hundred deaths logged in a day, the Department of Health said.
The DOH case bulletin said the death toll is now 19,763 or about 1.69% of the total number of cases.
The case tally rose to 1,171,403 after 6,258 more people caught the coronavirus. About 4.7% of this total or 55,531 are active or currently sick patients with 93.5% experiencing mild symptoms, 2% without symptoms, 1.8% feeling severe symptoms, 1.4% in critical condition and 1.22% moderate.
The recovery count also increased to 1,096,109 or 93.6% of the COVID-19 count after 2,586 more people were cleared of the virus.
The DOH said 19 deaths were reclassified as recoveries, while 74 recoveries were identified as deaths after validation. It also removed ten duplicates, including five survivors.
The number excludes data from five laboratories which the DOH says contributed an average of 3.5% samples tested and 1.9% positive individuals in the past 14 weeks.
Among Filipinos abroad, 24 more cases were detected, while five patients died and four others recovered, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported. The total number of infected is 18,658 with 1,168 fatalities and 11,400 survivors. There are also 6,090 people undergoing treatment.
