COVID-19 deaths exceed 66,000

MANILA, Philippines — The number of people who succumbed to COVID-19 has exceeded 66,000, according to the Department of Health.

The DOH’s COVID-19 Tracker showed that as of Feb. 21, a total of 66,039 deaths had been recorded since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

The highest number of fatalities was recorded in Quezon City with 2,672, followed by Cebu with 2,612 and Bulacan with 2,207.

In February 2020, a traveler from Wuhan, China was recorded as the Philippines’ first case of COVID-19.

A 67-year-old woman in Manila was the country’s first local death due to the disease.

Since then, the DOH has recorded a total of 4,075,611 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide.

Of the number, 9,211 are active cases while 4,000,361 have recovered from the illness.

In the last 14 days, the National Capital Region (NCR) posted the biggest number of new cases with 436, followed by Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) with 197 and Davao region with 195.

The current cumulative positivity rate is at 13.6 percent while the bed occupancy rate is at 16.9 percent.

More than 73.8 million individuals nationwide are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Of the figure, 21.5 million have received their first booster shots while 3.9 million have gotten their second boosters.

Philippines remains at low-risk classification

Meanwhile, the DOH reported that the country remains at low-risk classification with an average daily attack rate (ADAR) of 0.12 cases per 100,000 population.

From Feb. 16 to 22, the DOH recorded 832 COVID-19 cases, with the national positivity rate increasing slightly to 1.8 percent from 1.6 percent the previous week.

The NCR, however, posted a drop in the positivity rate from 1.8 percent to 1.7 percent.

Nationally, COVID-19 cases as well as severe and critical cases admissions are plateauing, according to the health department.