People wait for the cremation of deceased loved ones at the Manila North Cemetery's crematorium on August 15, 2021. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News
MANILA (UPDATE) - The Philippines' total COVID-related deaths crossed the 44,000-mark on Friday after the health department confirmed 260 more fatalities, data showed.
The Department of Health (DOH) said most or 219 of the day's fresh fatalities were initially tagged as recoveries. This happened after the agency's revalidation.
The country's death toll due to the novel coronavirus is now at 44,085, with a case fatality rate of 1.58 percent.
There were also 2,376 more COVID-19 infections, raising the country's total to 2,797,986.
This is the 4th straight day that new infections were below 3,000, data showed.
A total of 37,377 cases remain active, the DOH said. The ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group (IRG) said this is the 3rd straight day that the number of active cases fell below the 40,000-mark, duplicates already considered.
Positivity rate is at 6.5 percent, based on samples received from 44,182 individuals on Wednesday.
ABS-CBN Data Analytics head Edson Guido said the positivity rate is less than 7 percent for the 4th straight day.
Recoveries also rose by 2,109 to 2,716,524, comprising 97.1 percent of the running tally.
The day's new recuperations is the lowest in more than 2 weeks or since Oct. 20 when the agency logged 228, ABS-CBN's researchers noted.
Four laboratories failed to submit data on time.
New cases in the Philippines have dipped in the past few weeks, with an independent research group attributing it to the relatively high COVID-19 vaccination rate.
Because of this, Metro Manila on Friday shifted to Alert Level 2 from Alert 3, allowing more businesses to reopen.
Majority of the country have reversed a Delta variant-caused surge in cases, according to OCTA Research.
The government also lifted the curfew in Metro Manila starting November 4.
Earlier this week, the Philippines began the vaccination of all children aged 12 to 17 in an expansion of its pediatric jab coverage against COVID-19. No vaccine has, however, been approved for toddlers and school age children.
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