COVID-19 death toll in PH rises to 52,815 as 81 more die

A representation of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s COVID-19 death toll increased to 52,815 as the government reported on Friday the passing of 81 more people hit by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The Department of Health (DOH) said 21 of the 81 death cases occurred this month while 59 happened in 2021 – five in December, 14 in October, 12 in September, nine in August, five in July, three in June, one in May, three in April, four in March, and three in February, and one in November 2020.

The deaths from previous months which the DOH only reported Friday were due to the late encoding of death information, according to the health agency.

Because of this, the DOH again said: “This issue is currently being coordinated with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Units to ensure information is up to date.”

Also on Friday, the DOH said it recorded 37,207 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day rise for the country since the pandemic hit in 2020.

These fresh infections drove the confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide to 3,129,512 and active cases – or people currently sick – to 265,509 as of January 14.

SARS-CoV-2 is the latest coronavirus strain first detected in China in late 2019. It causes severe respiratory illness COVID-19. It has also undergone a number of mutations since 2020 that resulted in different variants which include Delta and Omicron – said to be the most contagious of all.

KGA