The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the Philippines hit an 11-month low on Sunday, November 28.

The Department of Health (DOH) announced 838 new confirmed cases, the lowest one-day tally since December 28, 2020, when 766 infections were reported.

The average number of new cases over the last seven days also fell below 1,000, or at 943. It was the lowest average since July 3, 2020 – at 897 – which was also the last time it fell below the 1,000 mark.

The 838 new cases bring the total COVID-19 cases in the country to 2,831,807.

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The Philippines also posted a positivity rate of 2.4% out of 34,241 tests on Friday, November 26. This continues the two-week streak of daily positivity rates below 5%, in line with the World Health Organization’s recommendation to governments when considering reopening.

The positivity rate is the percentage of all COVID-19 tests performed that are actually positive. These positive cases are added to the tally of confirmed cases only after further validation. This process helps ensure cases would not be recorded in duplicate, and that all test results had been submitted, explained the DOH.

The DOH also reported 156 new deaths on Sunday. It is the 12th consecutive day that reported deaths exceeded 100. The total death toll stood at 48,361.

Meanwhile, recoveries were up by 1,217, raising the total to 2,766,816.

Of the total cases, 16,630 or 0.6% are active. The total number is the lowest since June 7, 2020, when 16,362 were reported.

The DOH said two testing laboratories were not operational on Friday.

With the threat of the new COVID-19 variant called Omicron, countries around the world have announced a slew of travel restrictions.

In the Philippines, the government has imposed a travel ban on seven countries in Africa, including South Africa and Botswana, from November 26 to December 15. – Rappler.com