DOH logs deaths of 239 more COVID-19 patients

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) logged another 239 deaths due to COVID-19 complications on Thursday, raising the tally to 43,825.

The current count of deaths accounts for 1.57 percent of all the country’s 2.79 million confirmed COVID-19 cases.

There are still 37,159 active cases of the disease in the Philippines. Of the active cases, 68.9 percent are mild, 5.3 percent are asymptomatic, 14.11 percent are moderate, 8.2 percent are severe, and 3.5 percent are critical.

Based on DOH data on healthcare utilization, 43 percent of intensive care unit beds, 34 percent of isolation beds, and 28 percent of ward beds and ventilators are currently being used.

As the number of COVID-19 cases declined, the number of deaths also decreased in October, according to Dr. Alethea De Guzman, OIC-Director of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau.

READ: DOH notes lower COVID-19 deaths in October

She said that an average of 73 patients died per day in October, lower than the 179 fatalities in September and 174 in August. The significant factors that contributed to the decline in deaths are increased vaccination coverage and better health system capacity, said De Guzman.