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DOH: COVID-19 positivity rate breaches 2% for the first time since November

Philstar.com

December 26, 2021 | 4:07pm

DOH: COVID-19 positivity rate breaches 2% for the first time since November

Despite the earlier declaration made by the Malacañang that December 24 is a special working holiday for the recovery of the economy due to the pandemic, people with large baggages start arriving at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) in Parañaque City before dawn on Dec. 23, 2021 to catch their buses as they head to their respective provinces early to avoid the influx of passengers for the Christmas weekend.

The STAR / Miguel de Guzman

MANILA, Philippines — Health authorities on Sunday reported a coronavirus test positivity rate of 2% — marking the highest positivity rate since November.

Out of 21,116 tests conducted for coronavirus infection, exactly 433 came back positive in the Department of Health's latest case bulletin issued Sunday afternoon, bringing the national caseload to 2,838,640.

However, Sunday's positivity rate — which refers to the percentage of coronavirus infections based on the total tests conducted — is still well within the benchmark of 5% set by the World Health Organization.

As of the Department of Health's case bulletin on Sunday, the country's COVID-19 numbers now stand at:

Active cases: 9,522 or 0.3% of the total
Recoveries: 283, new additions, bringing the number to 2,777,918
Deaths: 13, now 51,200 in total

According to the Department of Health, eight labs were not able to submit their tallies for Sunday's final count as two were not operational while six did not submit.

However, the DOH added that the eight labs only accounted for 0.7% of all samples tested and 0.9% of all positive individuals.

To recall, the WHO in May advised governments to maintain rates of positivity in the testing of five percent or lower for at least 14 days before reopening travel and the economy.

It has been 649 days since the first enhanced community quarantine was hoisted over some parts of Luzon.

What's new today?

After reaching a low of 0.42 in mid-December, the COVID-19 reproduction number in Metro Manila now stands at 0.70 as of Wednesday, December 22, the OCTA Research Group said. This comes after Metro Manila recorded 201 new COVID-19 cases on Christmas Day, the highest out of any region on that day.
The Philippine National Police said it was ready to assist in the delivery and transport of the vaccines to designated venues and augment medical personnel and possible venues for the next phase of the national government's vaccination drive for children aged 5 to 11. It added that it was awaiting instruction to assist in cash aid distribution for victims of Super Typhoon Odette.
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake hit the waters off Davao Occidental the morning after Christmas Day, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs reported Sunday.
Tropical Cyclone formation is less likely in the next five days until the end of the year, state weather forecasters in the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

— Franco Luna