PH logs 959 new COVID-19 cases raising total to 478,761

CNN Philippines – Published Jan 4, 2021 4:13:17 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 4) — The Department of Health announced on Monday that 959 more people caught the coronavirus, as the country’s case count jumped to 478,761.

Latest figures showed that of the total infected, 21,219 or 4.4% are active cases.

The DOH again attributed the relatively low number of new cases to less people tested for COVID-19 during the New Year. It also said the updated count excludes data from three testing laboratories which failed to submit on time.

Based on the case report, Quezon City recorded the highest number of new cases with 73. This is followed by Davao City with 70, Rizal with 58, Agusan del Sur with 44, and Laguna with 41.

The DOH also logged 26 more COVID-19 survivors, which brought the recovery count to 448,279. Six were added to the nationwide death toll, which climbed to 9,263.

After final validation, the DOH also said five duplicates were removed from the overall tally, while one case mistakenly reported as a recovery was reclassified as a death.

The department warned the public anew that a spike in cases is still possible in the coming weeks, as it continues to assess the extent of the effects of the holidays on viral transmission.

Meanwhile, confirmed cases among overseas Filipinos rose to 12,929 after 37 more tested positive, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. It also reported 23 new deaths and three survivors, bringing the total figures to 934 fatalities and 8,390 recoveries.

Cases worldwide have exceeded 85.1 million, the Johns Hopkins University tracker showed. The global COVID-19 death toll is over 1.8 million, while recoveries are at 47.9 million.