OVER four months since the first death in the Philippines was reported, the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, who succumbed to the disease, in the country has now breached the 1,000 mark.
The latest case bulletin of the Department of Health showed nine fatalities were recorded yesterday, bringing to 1,003 the total number of deaths in the country.
The first death was recorded on February 1, a 44-year-old Chinese male from China.
The DOH said there were 555 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, or a total of 21,895 cases.
Of the newly-reported cases, 378 are considered “fresh cases” or those whose results were released to the patients within the last three days, while 177 are identified as “late cases” or those whose test results were released after more than for days.
The DOH also reported 89 new cases of recoveries among COVID-19 patients, or a total of 4,530 individuals who defeated the virus.
Globally, the World Health Organization said 6,663,304 persons in more than 200 countries and territories have been infected as of June 6. The disease has also killed 92,802 individuals.
Two days before the deadline set by President Duterte, the families of seven of 32 healthcare workers who died from COVID-19 have yet to receive the P1-million compensation provided by the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.”
“Five families have final pending documents, such as SPA (special power of attorney), before they can receive the checks,” said the DOH.
“The two remaining families, on the other hand, have heirs outside of the country, so they can’t immediately facilitate the process and have to confirm other relatives, who will receive on their behalf,” it added.
Last week, President Duterte gave the DOH until June 9 to provide the financial benefits to the families of the health workers, who either died from or experienced severe COVID-19 illness.
The DOH said the 25 other families have received the compensation.
As to healthcare workers with severe COVID-19, the DOH said the number of those entitled to P100,000 assistance has gone down to 42.
This is almost half the initial number issued by the DOH of 79 severe/critical cases involving medical frontliners.
The DOH said the number went down after some were “disqualified” them from the list of beneficiaries.
Of the 42, the DOH said 10 checks have been prepared. “We are validating the 42 cases following submission of medical abstracts,” it said.
As of press time, there is no available data yet on how many severe COVID-19 patients have received their checks as “delivery is still ongoing,” according to the DOH.
Under the law, the government must provide P100,000 to health workers, who developed severe illness from COVID-19, while each of the families of those who succumbed to it are entitled to P1 million compensation.
