The daily positivity rate or percentage of people who tested positive rose from 11.4% to 12% based on 46,497 tests done on June 22. The rate will still get updated but it is far from the below 5% recommended by the World Health Organization. Experts said high rates may mean high transmission and there may be more cases that have yet to be detected.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 24) — COVID-19 deaths in the country exceeded 24,000 on Thursday after 108 more people lost their lives to the disease.
The Department of Health’s case bulletin said the death toll is now 24,036 – equivalent to 1.74% of the total number of cases, which rose to 1,378,260 after 6,043 more people got infected.
Of this number, 3.7% or 51,410 are active cases or people currently sick, with 90.6% experiencing mild symptoms, 4.5% without symptoms, 2% with severe symptoms, 1.4% in critical condition, and 1.44% in moderate condition.
The recovery total is now 1,302,814 or 94.5% of the COVID-19 tally with 4,486 new survivors. The DOH said it reclassified 105 survivors – 44 into active cases and 61 into fatalities – after validation. It also deleted 15 duplicate cases, including nine recoveries.
The total excludes data from one laboratory that failed to submit its report on time, the DOH said. The laboratory contributed an average of 0.35% of samples tested and 0.24% of positive individuals in the last 14 days, the department added.
In the regions, independent research group OCTA said it observed a decrease in cases in Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, and Butuan, which it previously tagged as “areas of concern.” Despite this improvement, the group warned the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant may “crush” the country’s healthcare system.
OCTA fellow Ranjit Rye stressed there is no room for complacency and there is a need to accelerate the pace of vaccination. On Monday, a UK-based think tank said 85% of the population must be vaccinated in order to control the Delta variant.
