(FILE PHOTO) A health worker puts a swab into a tube after collecting a sample for COVID-19 coronavirus testing. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — The number of people who died due to COVID-19 in the country jumped to 20,566 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 187 new casualties.
According to DOH’s COVID-19 bulletin, the death toll currently comprises 1.70 percent of the 1.209 million cases recorded in the country.
Since May 21 up to Friday, the country has recorded 984 deaths, or an average of 123 deaths per day — slightly higher than the previous seven-day rolling average, which was at 117 deaths per day.
The high death count may also be due to verifications made by health authorities, as the COVID-19 bulletin showed 122 cases previously tagged as recoveries being reclassified to deaths.
Earlier, DOH numbers showed that COVID-19 infections are on the rise again, with 8,748 new cases recorded on Friday. All in all, there are 1,209,154 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.