THE Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, reported a lower number of coronavirus infections as some testing laboratories were non-operational.

The death toll from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), however, edged closer to 10,000, with the additional mortalities confirmed Tuesday.

In its case bulletin issued at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the DOH recorded 1,357 new cases, about 37 percent lower than the 2,163 infections on January 18.

“This relative decrease in the number of recorded cases today is attributed to the increased number of non-operating laboratories during the weekend,” the department said.

Only 16,444 tests were reported on Monday, nearly 15 percent lower than the 19,210 tests reported on Sunday but with a higher positivity rate of 5.7 percent compared to 4.6 percent on Sunday.

The DOH also reported 69 additional mortalities, which raised the death toll to 9,978. The case fatality rate increased again to 1.98 percent.

The new cases brought the cumulative case count to 504,084, of which 27,857 remained active cases.

There were also 324 additional recoveries, bringing the total to 466,249.

Davao City continued to post the highest number of new cases, with 130 reported on Tuesday.

It was followed by Rizal province (71), Quezon City (66), Pampanga (54) and Benguet (52). (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)