Philippines logs 1,427 new COVID-19 cases, lowest so far this year

MANILA, February 22 ------ The Philippines on Monday announced 1,427 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily tally so far this year, data from the health department showed. The positivity rate has declined to 7.5 percent, based on test results of samples from 25,000 individuals on Feb. 19, Saturday, according to the latest Department of Health bulletin. This is the lowest positivity rate since Dec. 28, according to Edson Guido, head of the ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team.

Of the newly reported cases, 1,389 or 97 percent occurred within the recent 14 days. Metro Manila (318 cases), Calabarzon (168 cases) and Western Visayas (159 cases) were the top regions with cases in the recent two weeks. The daily tally has remained below 2,000 for the third straight day, according to the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group, following 1,712 announced on Sunday, and 1,923 on Saturday. The number of fresh infections is the lowest daily case tally since Dec. 29, when 889 cases were reported, the group said.

The Philippines has so far tallied a total of 3,653,526 cases, of which 58,657 or 1.6 percent remain active. This is the lowest number of active infections since Jan. 6, when 56,561 active cases were recorded, the ABS-CBN IRG said. The day's active cases are broken down as follows: 304 critical, 1,422 severe, 2,845 moderate, 53,326 mild, and 760 asymptomatic.

COVID-related deaths increased by 79 to 55,763. Of the newly reported deaths, 66 occurred this month, eight last month, four in October last year, and one in September. This is the highest daily death toll in two days, or since Feb. 19 when 198 deaths were announced, according to the ABS-CBN IRG.

Meanwhile, there were 3,269 more recoveries, raising the total number of recuperations to 3,539,106. The DOH said 104 duplicates, including 98 recoveries, were removed from the total case count, while 52 cases previously tagged as recuperations were reclassified as deaths after final validation. Five laboratories, which contribute on average 0.1 percent of samples tested and 0.3 percent of positive cases, were unable to submit their data, the DOH said. The intensive care unit (ICU) bed utilization rate in Metro Manila and nationwide was at 28 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

The government vaccinated 3.447 million people or 68.94 percent of its 5-million target during the third round of the Bayanihan Bakunahan Program, said Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, head of the National Vaccination Operations Center. The vaccination drive aims to inoculate more senior citizens and Muslims, and ramp up the administration of booster shots, Cabotaje added.

More than 62.2 million people in the country are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 61.5 million others have received an initial dose, as of Feb. 17, according to data gathered by the ABS-CBN IRG. Up to 9.5 million booster doses have also been administered.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com