DOH: 'Technical issue' leading to 341 deaths unreported already resolved
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health on Tuesday said a "technical issue" in its COVID-19 case collection had resulted in lower deaths reported last week, after over 300 fatalities were logged today.
In a release, it said some 341 deaths prior to April went unreported over the matter "that caused incomplete fatality numbers and data to be encoded."
The agency, however, has yet to give out more details on when the said number of fatalities occur. It also did not elaborate on the nature of the technical issue, but said it was already resolved.
"Upon learning of the system malfunction, the DOH Epidemiology Bureau’s COVID-19 Surveillance Quick Action Unit took immediate action," DOH said. "[We are] continuously working to ensure consistent monitoring and maintenance of its information systems to ensure that they operate correctly."
From its daily bulletins, a total of 266 deaths were reported from the period of March 28 to April 4. By Tuesday, 382 fatalities in total were logged, including already the 341 previously unreported.
This brings the country's overall number of deaths to 13,817. In recent days, as the surge in daily infections continue, many Filipinos have lamented how social media has turned into an obituary, with deaths occuring more often.
Despite this, the DOH said there remains no reported spike in fatalities in the country.
"The cumulative case fatality rate for the Philippines remains low at 1.7%, and the average deaths per day for March is at 28," the agency said, comparing it with 27 daily average deaths in February and 32 in January.
DOH also sought to remind reporting units in local governments and health facilities to ensure that submission of data would be complete and on time.
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