NEARLY 1,300 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases were reported by the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday, while 305 more died as the death toll from the deadly virus continued to race toward the 47K mark.
In its latest bulletin, the DOH said the total number of infections in the country climbed to 2,821,753 counting the 1,297 new cases reported yesterday while the toll rose to 46,422 for case fatality rate of 1.65.
The positivity rate in the country stood at 3.4 percent out of the 42,043 tests conducted last November 16.
Active cases dipped slightly to 23,158 from 23,846 last Wednesday, with 58.5 percent mild cases, 19.9 percent moderate cases, 12.2 percent severe cases, 5.2 percent critical cases, and 4.1 percent asymptomatic cases. Active cases account for 0.8 percent of the COVID cases in the country.
The DOH also reported 1,956 more recoveries, raising the number of survivors to 2,752,173. This means that 97.5 percent of COVID patients in the country have recovered.
Defense Secretary and concurrent National Task Force Against COVID-19 chairman Delfin Lorenzana has tested positive anew for the deadly virus although he is asymptomatic.
Lorenzana, 73, who also tested positive for the virus last April, announced his latest bout against COVID on Wednesday night.
Fresh from official visits to Spain and Poland, Lorenzana said he had a swab test on Tuesday after attending a budget hearing at the Senate and got the result on Wednesday morning.
Lorenzana arrived in Manila on Sunday night. He took a COVID-19 test in Poland, the last stop of his visit, as a flight requirement back to Philippines and tested negative, said a defense official speaking on condition of anonymity. — With Victor Reyes
On the invitation of the Russians, Lorenzana also went to see on Wednesday, before receiving his swab test result, the five Russian Navy ships that are on port call in Manila.
Lorenzana, who is fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, said: “I’ll observe myself for several days; after that I’ll have another swab.”
