The positivity rate, or percentage of people that tested positive, rose to 13% based on 45,592 tests reported on July 22. The rate remains within the “high” classification under Covid Act Now, a U.S.-based nonprofit which the OCTA Research team uses as reference for its recommendations.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 24) — COVID-19 deaths in the country breached 27,000 on Saturday after 241 more people lost their lives to the disease, the Department of Health said.
The over 200 new deaths were due to backlogs caused by a technical issue in the data logging system which has since been resolved, according to the DOH.
The death toll is now 27,131 or 1.76% of the nationwide tally, which climbed to 1,543,281 after 6,216 more people got infected. Of the total, 3.5% or 54,401 are active cases or currently ill – with 93.4% experiencing mild symptoms, 2.3% having severe symptoms, 1.62% in moderate condition, 1.4% in critical condition, and 1.2% without symptoms.
The number of survivors also rose to 1,461,749 or 94.7% of the COVID-19 count with 6,778 new recoveries. The DOH said it reclassified 139 survivors into deaths after validation and deleted 31 duplicates, including 26 recoveries and one fatality.
The total excludes data from two laboratories that failed to submit their reports on time, the DOH said. These laboratories contributed an average of 0.1% of samples tested and 0.1% of positive individuals in the last 14 days, the department added.
OCTA had warned that proactive measures such as a curfew and a halt to social gatherings should be imposed in order to prevent cases from surging again amid the presence of the highly contagious Delta variant.
As of recent count, the country has 64 cases of the Delta variant, which prompted mayors in Metro Manila cities to reimpose its 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew beginning Sunday.
