236 more COVID-19 patients in PH die — DOH

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s coronavirus death toll rose to 39,896 on Tuesday as the Department of Health (DOH) reported additional 236 fatalities due to COVID-19 complications.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate is currently at 1.49 percent out of the 2.6 million confirmed cases of the disease in the country.

The DOH has so far reported 1,500 deaths since October 1 based on previous case bulletins. A total of 109 deaths were added to the count on Thursday, 191 on Friday, 273 on Saturday, 119 on Sunday, and 36 on Monday.

Of the total patients, 82,228 still have COVID-19 as of Tuesday. Of this number, 3.8 percent are severe and 1.6 percent are critical.

The DOH defines severe cases as patients with clinical signs of severe pneumonia or severe acute respiratory infection, while critical cases are patients with impending or ongoing respiratory failure, in need of mechanical ventilation, or with evidence of end-organ damage or with septic shock.

Sixty-eight percent of intensive care unit beds, 52 percent of isolation beds, 54 percent of ward beds, and 50 percent of ventilators are currently being used, according to DOH.

Data from the health department showed that hospital bed occupancy for COVID-19 patients has gone down to “safe” levels nationwide and in Metro Manila following the decline in new cases.

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