DOH: PH’s COVID-19 fatality rate is on downward trend

Published June 14, 2020, 8:14 PM

The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday (June 14) said the country’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) fatality rate is on a downward trend, allaying public concerns over the spike of reported deaths lately.

Health Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country’s fatality rate is now at 4.24 percent. Last May, the case fatality rate was at 5.52 percent.

“Mas mababa po ito sa kasalukuyang global case fatality rate ng buong mundo na tumatayo sa 5.6 percent as of June 13 (This is lower compared to the global case fatality rate that currently stands at 5.6 percent as of June 13),” Vergeire said in a press briefing.

The DOH reported a total of 38 deaths over the past two days: 16 deaths on June 12, and 22 deaths on June 13.

“Marami ang nagtatanong: lumalala ba ang sitwasyon? Base sa datos natin sa nangamatay, ang sagot po diyan ay hindi (Many are asking: is the situation getting worse? Based on our data on mortality, the answer is no),” Vergeire said.

“The rise in reported deaths from COVID-19 this month is due to a delay in the submission of validated mortality cases from the LGUs (local government units) to the DOH’s epidemiology bureau,” she added.

Vergeire gave as an example the deaths reported on June 13, which were 22 . Out of the 22 deaths, only four actually died this month, specifically on June 3, 4, 6, and 9, she said.

“The remaining 18 deaths occured in the previous months but were only recently submitted to the DOH Epidemiology Bureau,” she said.

This was seconded by Ateneo Professor Dr. John Wong, who is part of Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) sub-technical working group (TWG) on data analytics. He noted that the validation of deaths due to COVID-19 takes some time.

“The actual date of deaths would occur first but that has to be reported to the LGU (local government unit) and then later on to the regional offices and the DOH,” Wong said.

“The DOH has to validate it… It takes some time before an actual death is reported and that explains the delay in reporting because we have to validate and make certain of the event that has occured,” he added.

“With improved reporting efficiency, cases appear to be rising. However, adjusted for late reports, deaths have actually been decreasing.”

Wong also said that “fewer cases are dying, that means we are saving more lives.”

“The pandemic we are experiencing right now is a first in many ways. And, as such, the reporting and validating of cases is an evolving science which is why we encounter several challenges along the way,” he said.

SOURCE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/06/14/doh-phs-covid-19-fatality-rate-is-on-downward-trend/