Philippine COVID-19 death rate down in June, DOH official says

Philippines' COVID-19 fatality rate dropped from 5.52 percent as of May 31 to 4.24 percent on June 13, the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Sunday.

In a virtual presser, member of the government's inter-agency COVID-19 task force Dr. John Wong analyzed the data of COVID-19 cases in the county as of mid-June.

"Although we're above the ASEAN average, we're below the global average," Wong said.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the global average of case fatality rate as of June 13 is at 5.6 percent, based on a seven-day moving average.

“Totoong magandang balita po ito,” Vergeire said. 

In a statement, the DOH said that there was a downward trend in the mortality rate in mid-June despite the increase in validated death cases reported in the last two days.

Vergeire pointed out that the rise in reported deaths is due to a delay in the submission of validated mortality cases from the local government unit to the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau.

On Friday, DOH reported 16 deaths. There were 22 more on June 13.

Vergeire apologized if the data became a cause of concern as she explained that some of the figures are actually from the previous months.

She said out of the 22 reported deaths on Saturday, only four or 18 percent, died in the month of June, one each on the following dates: June 3, 4, 6, and 9.

The remaining 18 deaths occurred in the previous months but were only recently submitted to the DOH Epidemiology Bureau.

During the forum, Wong said the median number of COVID-19 deaths is nine per day.

Dr. John Wong's graph with dark red bars representing the previous deaths only reported on Saturday (June 13), thus suggesting that the mortality figure maintained its downward trend.

“With improved reporting efficiency by the COVIDKaya app, cases appear to be rising. However, adjusted for late reports, deaths have actually been decreasing,” Wong said in a statement.

According to Vergeire, the delays in reporting deaths on the average reached over 20 days, but now it is only around seven to eight days.

Vergeire noted that the cases of COVID-19 in the country are not increasing like in March and April. “Malaki na ang improvement sa pag-report ng kaso,” she added.

Vergeire attributed the improvement to LGUs, laboratories, and hospitals.

“Pero ang good news na ito ay mabilis ding babaliktad kung magpapabaya tayo sa pagsuot ng mask paglabas ng bahay, pag-physical distancing, palagiang paghugas ng kamay, dahil ang mga gawaing ito ang magpapabagal ng pagkalat ng virus,” she said. —LBG/DVM, GMA News