AFTER dipping to as low as 12,805 last Wednesday, new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases rose to 14,286 yesterday while 130 more lost their battle against the deadly virus, according to the Department of Health.
In its latest bulletin, the DOH said infections in the country climbed to 2,549,966 while the toll continued racing to the 40K mark at 38,294 for a case fatality rate of 1.50.
The positivity rate stood at 22 percent among the 62,369 tested nationwide last September 28.
Active cases jumped to 138,294 from 132,339 last Wednesday, with 77.7 percent mild cases, 15.8 percent asymptomatic cases, 3.7 percent moderate cases, 2 percent severe cases, and 0.9 percent critical cases.
The DOH also reported 8,268 more recoveries, raising the number of survivors to 2,373,378. This means that 93.1 percent of COVID patients in the country have recovered.
The DOH is in the dark on how many Filipinos who have used the rapid antigen test kits have tested positive for the deadly virus.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in an online press briefing, said they don’t have complete data and analysis on how many have tested positive via the antigen tests.
“We have not seen the universe. In short, many are using antigen but we cannot see the totality on how many were actually used,” said Vergeire. “The number of utilization is not yet complete. So, we cannot give a definite answer right now if how many are actually using antigen.”
Vergeire had earlier said the DOH is not including the positive cases from antigen tests in the daily COVID-19 tally. She said they are still evaluating the accuracy of the tests when used inappropriately, such as screening protocols in workplaces, events, and public gatherings.
She said this is the reason why they are asking the help of other government institutions to create a more accurate data gathering system for antigen test results.
“The private citizens, private events, private establishments using antigen testing, we need to get their numbers in using these kits,” Vergeire said. “We are currently coordinating with specific agencies and units so that we can get these numbers.”
