PH’s COVID-19 death toll rises to 48,361; DOH records 156 new deaths

UNPRECEDENTED Workers are finding themselves busier than ever at New Life Crematorium in Biñan City in Laguna, where families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19 have to wait for at least two days to secure a slot. —RICHARD A. REYES (file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the low number of new COVID-19 cases tallied over the past few days, the number of deaths continues to rise with the Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday adding 156 more to the country’s death toll.

The death toll said the DOH, currently sits at 48,361, which accounts for 1.71 percent of the total 2,831,807 confirmed cases in the country and 0.93 percent of the deaths recorded globally.

Worldwide, COVID-19 deaths according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker are currently at 5,195,571, while infections are at 261,100,449.

The total current active infections in the country, on the other hand, continue to decrease to 16,630, after recoveries have increased to 2,766,816.

The country also continues to have a low health care utilization rate, according to the DOH, with only 27 percent of ICU beds, 26 percent of isolation beds, 16 percent of ward beds, and 16 percent of ventilators currently in use.

As well as in Metro Manila where occupied ICU beds are currently at 27 percent, isolation beds at 24 percent, ward beds at 23 percent and 20 percent for ventilators.

On the other hand, the country’s positivity rate is at 2.4 percent, still below the World Health Organization’s standard of 5 percent which indicates a controlled transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

/MUF