BY ANALOU DE VERA
Deaths linked to COVID-19 in the country exceeded the 5,000-mark while there were 1,635 new people who have contracted the disease, the Department of Health (DoH) announced Tuesday.
The DoH said that 50 more patients died, raising the death toll to 5,049. Of the new deaths, 38 occurred in September while eight happened in August, three in July, and one in April.
The DoH also reported 450 more patients who have recovered, taking the total recoveries to 230,643. The new cases pushed the country’s caseload to 291,789. It noted that 31 duplicates were removed from the tally.
To note, the previous record of below 2,000 reported cases was last September 7 with 1,383 cases then. Of the country’s cumulative total, 56,097 are still active cases.
Patients who are in critical and severe condition accounted for 3.1 percent and 1.3 percent of the active cases; while mild and asymptomatic are at 86.4 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively.
The Health Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) observed the increasing number of patients who are severely or critically ill.
“Kung titingnan natin sa ngayon, pataas nang pataas ang dami ng mga kaso na severe o critical. Ang ibig sabihin nito marami ho sa nakikita namin ngayon, bagamat kumaunti po ang kaso compared sa mga nakaraang linggo, mas marami po kaming nakikitang kaso na mas severe at kakailanganin talaga na maipasok sila sa ICU (intensive care unit),” said Dr. Maricar Limpin, co-convenor of HPAAC and Vice President of Philippine College of Physicians.
Limpin urged the public to immediately seek medical advice if they already experience symptoms of COVID-19.
“Importante na makita kayo sa tamang panahon para hindi umabot doon sa severe. Ngayon ‘yung mga severe case ay dahil karamihan sa patients ay pumunta sila sa amin late na, mga five to seven days na may sakit – doon palang nagpatingin. So, by the time na makita sa hospital ay medyo grabe na ang condition,” she said.
