By JHON ALDRIN CASINAS
The number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the country is increasing, the Department of Health (DOH) said Saturday.
“Titinitignan natin ngayon ang trends ng deaths, makikita po natin that the number of deaths are increasing,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.
The Philippines logged a record number of COVID-19 deaths on April 9, Day of Valor or “Araw ng Kagitingan,” with 401, pushing the country’s total to 14,520.
Of the number, Vergeire said that seven deaths happened in January, 45 in February, 287 in March, and 49 in April.
“Ito po ‘yung continuous kasi na nagva-validate tayo ng deaths and the sources of information will be coming from the local government and the hospital,” she added.
“Kaya po ‘yung iba dito nakukuha natin nung last month pa or ng iba pa hong mga buwan dahil nga po ngayon lang nava-validate ‘yung deaths.” “Pero pag tinignan natin, recent naman itong March and April and we can see really that the cases of death are increasing,” she said.
The Health official noted that most of the deaths reported on April 9 were from Region 3 (46 percent), followed by Region 4-A (23 percent), Metro Manila (13 percent), Region 7 (10 percent), and the rest are from other regions.
She explained that the late reporting of COVID-19 deaths was due to incomplete data coming from the disease reporting unit at the level of the local government units (LGU).
“Hindi po natin puwedeng itala sa official tally natin kung hindi po kumpleto ang detalye kaya kailangan po mag verify pa with local government at tsaka binabalik sa atin,” Vergeire said.
