NDRRMC: Yolanda damage jumps to P22B; death toll now at 5,209

The damage caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) jumped to more than P22 billion as of Friday night, after more reports of the extent of its destruction continued to come in.

As of 8 p.m. Friday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council pegged the damage caused by Yolanda at P22,470,563,943.76.

It said this included P11,957,880,034 in infrastructure and P10,512,683,909.76 in agriculture in Mimaropa, Calabarzon, Bicol, the entire Visayas, and Caraga.

The NDRRMC also said 536,680 houses were destroyed while 549,647 were damaged.

At least 5,209 people were killed while 23,404 were injured and 1,611 are missing.

Earlier, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said that while the situation in areas hit by the monster typhoon is already “stabilizing,” the death toll from the calamity was nearing 5,000 as of Friday afternoon.

In its Friday 8 p.m. update, the NDRRMC said Yolanda affected 2,156,505 families or 10,004,125 people in 10,724 villages in 44 provinces.

Of these, 77,737 families or 361,167 people are staying in 1,511 evacuation centers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health is shifting its efforts from cadaver management to outbreak detection and response, National Epidemiology Center head Dr. Enrique Tayag said.

Tayag said this shift means the DOH will "disengage in the management of dead bodies which is now with the National Bureau of Investigation and local government units.

Tayag also said the DOH is verifying deaths from tetanus & leptospirosis.

So far, he said the DOH had verified two leptospirosis patients, including a 22-year-old from Tacloban and a 58-year-old from Palo, Leyte.

Also verified were four tetanus cases, all males aged between 19 and 60. One was from Tolosa while the rest were from Tacloban, and all are alive, he said. — LBG, GMA News