DOH says March to May death count comprises 30% of total COVID fatalities
Facade of the DOH main office in Manila. INQUIRER.net file photo
MANILA, Philippines — The total number of COVID-19 deaths from March to May amounted to 30 percent of the total number of fatalities since the pandemic started last year, the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Thursday.
DOH Epidemiology Bureau OIC-Director Alethea De Guzman said that the high sum of deaths for the recent months is “not unusual” as cases peaked during the surge of infections in April.
“Sa ngayon, pag i-combine ko ‘yung dami ng deaths natin across March, April, and May, they really comprise around 30% of the total deaths natin from the start of the pandemic. [This is] not unusual because we really had a large number of cases over April and May,” she explained in an online media forum.
(If I combine the number of deaths across March, April, and May, they comprise around 30% of our total deaths from the start of the pandemic. This is not unusual because we really had a large number of cases in April and May.)
DOH recorded 1,928 deaths in March, 3,324 in April, and 2,389 so far in May.
De Guzman also said that an average of 111 deaths per day was reported for April while only 77 deaths per day were recorded for May so far.
“We want a more continuous, faster decline in our deaths and that is why we’re always emphasizing that in ensuring our health care capacity, we need to prioritize the availability of critical care capacity such as our ICU beds,” she added.
The country has so far recorded 21,158 deaths due to COVID-19 as of June 2. This is 1.71 percent of all the 1.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Faith Yuen Wei Ragasa, INQUIRER.net trainee
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