DOH: 2 more COVID-19 patients die; total PH death count now 14

MANILA, Philippines — Two more patients died of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), bringing the country’s total death count to 14, the Department of Health (DOH)  said Tuesday evening.

In an interview over dzMM, Health Undersecretary Rosette Vergeire also said that they recorded two more patients who recovered from the disease.

“Ngayon po meron po tayong total number of cases in the country which is 187. Meron po tayong nareport na bagong kaso na 45. Meron na rin ho tayong labing-apat na death. At meron ho tayong nakarecover po na anim na tao,” Vergeire said.

Moments after Vergeire’s interview, the DOH confirmed the two new casualties and released their information.

One of the patients, identified on the DOH’s list as Patient 126, was a 76-year old Filipino male, who expired Tuesday afternoon after experiencing Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and severe pneumonia.

The patient was admitted to the Adventist Medical Center- Manila on March 9, and was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on March 15. He has Type 2 diabetes and Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease, the DOH said.

The other patient who died, Patient 129 on the DOH list, was a 67-year old Filipino male. He was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on March 15. He expired Tuesday at the Lung Center of the Philippines after experiencing ARDS secondary to COVID-19, as well as community-acquired pneumonia.

He was a known hypertensive, the DOH noted.

In a bulletin earlier, the DOH reported 45 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the country’s total infection to 187.

The virus, which was first detected in Hubei, China, causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough for most people but can cause serious illness such as pneumonia for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.

COVID-19, now considered by the World Health Organization as a pandemic, has infected more than 160,000 people in over 140 different countries and territories.