By Christine Fabro
The case fatality rate on healthcare workers is lower than the general population and has remained below 1% since the COVID-19 pandemic began according to data from the Department of Health (DOH).
In a Laging Handa public briefing on Tuesday (Sept. 14), DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reported that a total of 104 healthcare workers have succumbed to COVID-19.
“Looking at the national trends, while the peak in cases in March to April 2021 saw an accompanying increase in the number of cases and deaths among our healthcare workers, the number of healthcare workers cases and deaths were lower in April of 2021 and August of 2021 versus July to August of 2020,” Vergeire said.
Meanwhile, about 24,284 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19 since April 2020. Of this, there are 23,814 recoveries while 366 are still undergoing treatment.
“The reduction in healthcare workers’ cases and deaths were more apparent in the National Capital Region (NCR) with only 5 deaths reported in 2021. No death has been reported since June of 2021 for the NCR,” she said.
About 96% of the total healthcare workers nationwide are already vaccinated and 94.7% in NCR.
According to Vergeire, case fatality among health workers remains low due to the high vaccination coverage. – bny
