FILE PHOTO: A computer image created by Nexu Science Communication together with Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative of a betacoronavirus which is the type of virus linked to COVID-19, shared with Reuters on February 18, 2020. NEXU Science Communication/via REUTERS
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said that 132 more individuals succumbed to COVID-19, further increasing the country’s death toll to 51,504.
Only nine or 7 percent of the new deaths, however, occurred in December, said the DOH.
The rest of the deaths were backlogs of which most occurred in 2021; 3 in November; 24 in October; 18 in September; 12 in August; 6 in July; 8 in June; 5 in May; 21 in April; 8 in March, and 4 in January.
A total of 22 deaths were also from last year; 2 of which were in December; 3 in November; 1 in October; 4 in September; 10 in August; 1 in July; and another 1 as far back as March.
The delays in deaths were still due to the late encoding of death information to DOH’s COVIDKaya.
The current death toll, meanwhile, still accounts for 1.81 percent of the total 2,843,979 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.
Active infections, on the other hand, is now at 14,233, after the DOH reported its highest number of daily cases since Nov. 1.
Positivity rate also jumped to 10.3 percent, double the World Health Organization’s threshold of 5 percent — which indicates controlled transmission of the SARS-CoV-2.
Health care utilization rate nationwide, however, remains unaffacted based on DOH’s data, as 20 percent of ICU beds, 222 percent of isolation beds, 12 percent of ward beds, and 11 percent of ventilators currently in use nationwide.
The same goes for Metro Manila, but with a slight increase in ward beds, occupied ICU beds are currently at 24 percent, isolation beds at 21 percent, ward beds at 21 percent and 14 percent for ventilators.
As of writing, worldwide deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker, number 5,429,617, while infections are at 286,518,948.
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