There were over 310,000 people who had already recovered from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Sunday, Oct. 18.
In its latest case update, the DOH said 14,941 more patients were confirmed to have survived from the disease, taking the nationwide recovery tally to 310,158.
The big increase in Sunday’s figure is due to the DOH’s Oplan Recovery program, wherein the data is being released weekly. A patient is considered recovered if he or she met the certain criteria and was cleared by a physician.
It was also confirmed that 2,379 more people in the Philippines have been diagnosed with COVID-19, taking the country’s cumulative caseload to 356,618.
The number of active cases or those still undergoing treatment is now at 39,808, of which, 82.8 percent are mild, 11.5 percent are asymptomatic, 1.9 percent are severely ill, and 3.7 percent are in critical condition.
The National Capital Region (NCR) still recorded the highest daily increase in cases with an additional 846, followed by Calabarzon with 427, and Central Luzon with 324.
The department also reported 50 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 6,652. Of the newly reported, 18 died this month, 14 in September, eight in August, six in July, and four in June.
Currently, the Philippines has 147 licensed laboratories that can conduct COVID-19 testing that has tested a total of 4,106,475 people.
Globally, 39,196,259 have been infected with COVID-19, including 1,101,298 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).