PH logs 2,180 add’l COVID-19 cases; total reaches 296,755
Kristine Sabillo, ABS-CBN News
The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday reported 2,180 additional COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, pushing the total to 296,755.
This is the 3rd straight day that newly-announced cases were below 3,000.
Of the additional cases, 802 were from the National Capital Region, 292 from Laguna, 152 from Batangas, 144 from Cavite and 87 from Negros Occidental. Majority or 84% of the newly-reported cases occurred in the last 2 weeks.
With 580 additional recovered patients and 36 new COVID-related deaths, there are now 59,700 active cases or current infections in the country.
Of the 36 deaths, 23 occurred in September, 7 in August, 2 each in July and June, and 1 each in May and April. Almost half of the deaths were from NCR.
The total number of recoveries is 231,928, while the death toll climbed to 5,127.
The DOH said it removed 16 duplicate cases, 7 of which were tagged as recovered, from the official tag.
There were also 18 cases tagged as recoveries that were reclassified as 17 deaths and 1 active case.
Only 9 laboratories were unable to submit their data on time:
- Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center
- Cotabato Regional Medical Center
- First Aide Diagnostic Center
- Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center GeneXpert
- Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center RT-PCR
- Philippine Red Cross – Logistics and Training- Subic, Zambales
- Safeguard DNA Diagnostics
- Tropical Disease Foundation
- Valenzuela Hope Molecular Laboratory
The daily tally of COVID-19 cases has been previously affected by the delay in the submission of data by laboratories.
From cases that ranged between 3,000 to 4,000 in the last 2 weeks, additional COVID-19 cases dropped to 1,633 on Sept. 22.
A DOH staff told ABS-CBN News that the report that day came from the submission of laboratories received between Sept. 20, 1 p.m., until 12 noon of Sept. 21. The staff said “the low report may be due to the low number of specimens processed” during that time. He did not explain why that was the case.
Based on DOH data, for Sept. 20, tests conducted for the new coronavirus were at 26,076, while Sept. 21 saw only 24,690 tests for the new coronavirus.
Earlier this month, the government and some experts were looking at the possibility of a declining trend in cases. But with the numbers rising to the 3,000- to 4,000-level in mid-September, the DOH said it is still analyzing the numbers.
The UP OCTA Research Group earlier estimated that the Philippines would have 310,000 to 330,000 total COVID-19 cases by the end of September.
Since the start of the pandemic, 31.88 million people have been infected by the COVID-19 virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard. Of those, 976,000 have died and almost 21.98 million have recovered.
