The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday disclosed the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country is now at 13,434 after 213 new cases were recorded. The recovery tally reached the 3,000 mark after 68 more patients recovered, while the death toll rose to 846 following the passing of four patients.
Latest data from the health department show there are 9,588 active cases.
Health promotion and Communication Service Director IV Dr. Beverly Ho clarified the relatively low recovery rate is “because our current recoveries are based on the strict definition that confirmed COVID-19 positive patients need to have repeat RT-PCR tests.”
The DOH will release in the coming days a data on clinically recovered patients without symptoms and are not yet tested.
Meanwhile, the DOH apologized for the confusion brought about by its statement on Wednesday regarding the second wave of COVID-19 cases in the country.
“The DOH confirms that yes, we are in the first wave driven by a local community transmission,” Ho said. “We apologize for the confusion that this has caused. But we hope that this does not in any way distract us from what we really need to do, to change the course of this pandemic,” Ho added.
