Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 2) – The country on Sunday recorded 4,600 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day increase since Oct. 24, 2021.
The total number of cases rose to 2,851,931, with 21,418 or 0.8% currently ill. Majority, or 15,644, of the active cases were tagged as mild, 769 as asymptomatic, 3,081 as moderate, 1,589 as severe, and 335 as critical, the Department of Health said.
Data from nine testing laboratories have yet to be submitted, while two others did not operate on Dec. 31. These 11 laboratories contributed an average of 0.8% of all samples tested and 1.5% of all positive cases in the last two weeks.
The DOH noted that 4,548 of the new infections were detected over the past 14 days, while others were reported late.
Of the new cases, 3,279 are in Manila. Calabarzon saw the second biggest rise with 676, followed by Central Luzon with 252.
The death toll reached 51,570 after 25 more patients died. Seven of the new fatalities occurred in December, two in November, one in October, and the other 15 from March to September. The DOH said the seven cases that were erroneously declared as survivors were reclassified as deaths.
Recoveries, on the other hand, climbed to 2,778,943 with 535 new survivors.
According to the DOH, 26,122 COVID-19 tests were reported on Dec. 31. The positivity rate is 19.6%, higher than Saturday’s 14.8%. This means one in five people tested for COVID-19 are positive.
After final validation, the DOH removed 38 duplicate entries from its data, as well as 117 cases found to have tested negative.
