COVID-19: Death toll now at 11; infected people in PH climb to 140

DOH’s announcement late Sunday afternoon has brought to 11 the number of fatalities from COVID-19 and raised to 140 the number of people infected.

Based on DOH’s update, the three patients who died were “PH9”, the 86-year-old American male from Marikina City who succumbed to multiple organ failure; “PH54”, the 40-year-old male from Pasig City who died due to acute respiratory illness; and “PH39”, a 64-year-old male from Negros Occidental who previously had liver disease.

PH54 and PH39 died Sunday morning at 2:42 a.m. and 11:09 a.m. respectively; while PH9 died Saturday morning.

mOf the three, only PH9 had a travel history to the United States and Korea while PH39 went to Greenhills in San Juan City, Metro Manila, where some of the people found positive for COVID-19 have reportedly visited.

At least two of the 140 people positive for COVID-19 were said to have frequented the Muslim prayer room in Greenhills.

PH54, meanwhile, had no history of travel to virus-hit countries and no exposure to any infected person 14 days before symptoms appeared.

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which outbreak started in China’s Wuhan City in Hube province in late 2019.

People who have COVID-19 could recover since for most people, its symptoms were mild like fever and cough. But the illness could also be worse or serious for others such as pneumonia, especially for older adults and those with existing health problems.

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic as it has infected more than 150,000 people and killed over 5,000 all over the world.