Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 22) – The Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,019 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the fourth straight day the tally was the lowest since the start of the year.
The DOH said the count did not include data from five testing laboratories, which contributed 1.5% of the samples tested and 0.7% of the positive results in the last 14 days.
The figures are based on laboratory outputs from Sunday, which traditionally has the lowest outputs per week, it added.
Of the newly announced cases, 982 (96%) were detected within the past two weeks. Metro Manila was the top contributing region with 197 (20%), followed by Calabarzon with 124 (13%), and Ilocos Region with 85 (9%).
The total number of infected is now at 3,654,284, of which 56,668 or 1.6% are active cases.
Based on the DOH’s breakdown, 51,395 of those currently ill show mild symptoms; 704 have no symptoms; 2,480 have moderate infection; 1,425 have severe symptoms; and 304 are critically ill.
Thirteen more fatalities were also confirmed, including six from this month, five from last month, and two from September and October of last year. These pushed the death toll to 55,776.
Meanwhile, the department said 2,988 more survivors raised the recovery count to 3,541,840.
After final validation, the DOH removed 260 duplicate entries from the total count, along with one case found to have tested negative. It also corrected as deaths 13 cases it mistakenly declared as recoveries.
