COVID-19 deaths are high among children under 2 years old, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday, urging parents and guardians to make sure their kids follow health protocols.
At a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said experts were still studying why deaths were high among children younger than 2 who contracted COVID-19.
“High numbers of COVID-19 cases were observed among those less than 2 years old and as the age increases to 15 years old to 19 years old, that is where we see that infections are higher compared to other age groups,” Vergeire said in Filipino.
DOH data showed that in the 0 to 4 age group, there were 26,911 cases, with 218 deaths and 25,631 recoveries.
In the 5 to 9 age group, there were 27,970 cases, 33 deaths and 26,806 recoveries.
Among those aged 10 to 14, there were 38,419 cases, 63 deaths and 36,775 recoveries.
In the 15 to 19 age group, there were 58,587 cases, with 121 deaths and 56,163 recoveries.
Despite these figures, the government has allowed children aged 5 and above to go outdoors in areas under a general community quarantine (GCQ) and a modified GCQ.
Vergeire said this was because studies have shown that COVID-19 lockdowns affect the wellbeing of children.
“They experience issues both physically and mentally and their developmental stages are being hampered and affected because of the lockdowns, because they cannot interact properly with other people,” Vergeire said.
“That was why we made that recommendation, based on our experts, but it does not mean that we are giving too much freedom. We must still follow protocols.,” she said.
The Philippines logged 5,204 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of infections to 1,478,061.
There were 100 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 26,015.
The DOH reported 5,811 people recovered recently, bringing total recoveries to 1,402,918.
There were 49,128 active cases, of which 89.6 percent were mild, 4.7 percent were asymptomatic, 1.5 percent were critical, 2.5 percent were severe, and 1.72 percent were moderate.
Nationwide, 57 percent of the ICU beds, 45 percent of the isolation beds, 42 percent of the ward beds, and 36 percent of the ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 42 percent of the ICU beds, 37 percent of the isolation beds, 32 percent of the ward beds, and 30 percent of the ventilators, were in use.
On Sunday, the independent OCTA Research Group said the overall COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR) in Metro Manila has dropped 26 percent, as local government units continue to implement vaccination programs
OCTA, in its monitoring report, said the CFR decreased from 1.06 percent for the Jan. 1, to March 31 period to 0.78 percent during the June 1 to July 6 period.
"In comparison, the CFR in the NCR in 2020 was 2.32 percent, or more than two out of 100 cases were dying due to COVID," OCTA's report said.
Among senior citizens, the fatality rate also decreased by 27 percent, or from 5.78 percent from January to March 2021 to 4.29 percent from June to July 2021.
In the same period, the CFR for those aged 50 to 59 also decreased by 25 percent from 1.61 percent to 1.21 percent.
For the 40 to 49 age group, the case fatality rate fell by 60 percent from 0.62 percent to 0.37 percent.
The case fatality rate for the 18 to 29 age group remained at 0.13 percent.
The fatality rate among minors who are not covered yet by the vaccination program, went up from 0.07 percent to 0.20 percent.
"Currently 1 out of 500 cases below 18 years old die due to COVID-19," OCTA said.
According to OCTA, the drop in the fatality rate among those aged 40 and above may be due to the inoculation program.
OCTA said the decrease may also be attributed to continued improvements in hospital capacity and equipment as well as the efforts of health workers.
There is also a flat trend of COVID-19 infections in Metro Manila, Bacolod, and Davao City, the OCTA report said.
"The trends in the Philippines, NCR and many of the 'hot' LGU are 'flat,'" the report said.
Also, flat trends were registered in Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Baguio City and Calamba City in Laguna.
Moreover, the report indicates that the Philippines logged an average of 5,243 daily new COVID-19 cases in the past seven days. This was 5 percent lower than the previous week’s average, OCTA said.
The reproduction number in Metro Manila, meanwhile, increased from 0.90 recorded last April 21, 2021 to 0.91 as reported from July 4 to 10.
However, occupancy of intensive care units remained very high in Davao with 94 percent, Iloilo City with 98 percent and Santa Rosa, Laguna with 87 percent.