The regions with the highest number of new cases during those two weeks were Metro Manila (231 or 26%), Calabarzon (136 or 15%) and Western Visayas (93 or 10%).
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 28) — The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday reported 951 new COVID-19 infections, the lowest daily count so far this year.
The last time new cases fell to a three-digit number was on Dec. 29, when 889 infections were listed.
The nationwide tally of cases is now at 3,661,997 with 1.4% or 52,179 currently sick patients.
At least 47,157 active cases have mild symptoms; 2,779 are in moderate condition; 1,417 have severe symptoms; 528 without symptoms and 298 in critical condition.
The death toll rose to 56,451—1.54% of all cases—after 50 more people succumbed to the disease.
Meanwhile, 1,717 others got better, raising the recovery count to 3,553,367 or 97% of the COVID-19 tally.
Five laboratories did not submit data on time, the DOH added. These laboratories contributed an average of 3.9% of tested samples and 0.7% of positive individuals in the last 14 days.
Among the 50 deaths, 23 (46%) occurred this month and 22 (44%) last month. There were also five recorded from last year: one in October, three in September, and one in June.
The belated reporting is due to the late encoding of information into the COVIDKaya data storage system, the DOH explained.
The agency said it reclassified 36 initially tagged survivors as among the dead after validation, and deleted three duplicate cases, including one recovery.
The positivity rate, or percentage of tested people with positive results, remained at 5% based on 22,407 tests reported on Feb. 26.
The World Health Organization recommends a positivity rate of below 5% maintained over at least 14 days for a country to reopen borders.
