Asymptomatic and mild coronavirus disease 2019 cases (Covid-19) have been reclassified as recovered after 14 days from when the illness was first detected under a “mass recovery adjustment,” the Department of Health (DOH) said in a press release on Thursday.
Under Department Memorandum No. 2020-0258, some 5,000 asymptomatic and mild cases were included in the number of recovered Covid-19 cases, state health officials reported.
The 14-day period starts the day after testing for confirmed asymptomatic cases, and starts on the onset of symptoms for mild cases, the department explained. Upon the assessment of a licensed physician, these cases will be classified as recovered.
The DOH said this was adopted from the clinical recovery protocols followed by the United States, Europe and India, who have found that the risk of spreading the disease to other people is significantly reduced 10 days after initially contracting the illness.
The “mass recovery adjustment” was done as a part of the “Oplan Recovery” data reconciliation initiative, which added 37,176 recoveries to the 909 recoveries reported by epidemiological survey units, the department stated.
“These massive data reconciliation efforts have resulted in faster and more accurate tagging of health statuses — particularly on deaths and recoveries,” the DOH said in the statement.
This resulted in record-high recoveries of 38,075, bringing the country’s total to 65,064 as of July 30 in the COVID-19 tracker.
State health officials said the results of the data reconciliation activities would be reported every 15 days. Carlito Topacio