(Eagle News) — The number of coronavirus disease 2019 cases in the country breached the 161,000 mark on Sunday, Aug. 16, after the Department of Health reported an additional 3420 cases on the same day.
The DOH said recoveries also rose to 112,586 after 40,397 were added to the existing tally.
This is the most number of COVID-19 recoveries the Philippines has reported in a single day.
The DOH said of the 161,253 total COVID-19 cases, 46002 were active cases, of which 90.7 percent were mild, 6.7 percent asymptomatic, 1.1 percent severe, and 1.5 percent critical.
According to the department, the 3420 newly-announced COVID-19 cases were from tests done by 99 out of 105 laboratories.
Of the 3420 cases, 2091 were from the National Capital Region, 263 from Laguna, 149 from Cavite, 137 from Batangas, and 106 from Rizal.
Sixty-five deaths were reported today, bringing the total to 2665.
Earlier, the DOH said every Sunday, the results of its “mass recovery adjustment” would be reported.
Under the “mass recovery adjustment,” a time-based approach to specific patients is followed for their release from isolation.
This approach, which sees patients who completed a a specific isolation period without developing symptoms re-tagged as recoveries, is followed by the United States’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and is stricter than the updated criteria recommended by the World Health Organization for releasing COVID-19 patients in isolation.
Under the approach, asymptomatic cases are re-tagged as recoveries after 14 days of isolation from the day their positive swab test results are released.
Mild to moderate cases, on the other hand, are re-tagged as such after they complete at least 14 days of isolation, and no longer exhibit COVID-19 symptoms for at least three days.
Severe to critical cases should complete a minimum of 21 days of isolation and exhibit no symptoms for at least three days.
Only a licensed physician should give the final evaluation that a patient has recovered, under the approach also recommended by the DOH, the Philippine College of Physicians, and the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
Those with “immuno-compromising conditions,” however, are not covered by this approach, and should be assessed based on clinical parameters and a test-based strategy, the DOH said.
President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to announce the quarantine status of Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna and Bulacan tomorrow, Aug. 17, a day before the modified enhanced community quarantine in those areas is expected to lapse.