(FILE) Workers in protective suits, used due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, wait outside a crematorium facility as the cremation process takes some two hours in Manila on April 29, 2020. – Most of the Philippines is under quarantine to contain the spread of the coronavirus that has infected over 7,000 people and killed at least 500 in the country. (Photo by Maria TAN / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s COVID-19 death toll climbed to 23,538 as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 153 deaths Saturday.
According to the health department, the deaths account for 1.74 percent of all the 1.35 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.
Of the confirmed cases, 59,439 remain active infections, which include 1.7 percent severe and 1.3 critical cases that are at higher risk for death.
The DOH said 95.7 percent of the cases are mild and asymptomatic, while 1.25 percent are moderate infections.
DOH data from the last seven days showed there was an average of 126 deaths reported from June 13 to June 19. Meanwhile, there was an average of 131 fatalities reported from June 6 to 12.
The department’s epidemiology bureau earlier said the deaths reported in June are on a decline compared to previous months.