Recent COVID-19 deaths mostly those with comorbidities, from vulnerable sectors –expert

Most of the recent COVID-19 deaths mostly involved patients with comorbidities or were from the vulnerable sectors, an infectious disease expert said Sunday.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, Dr. Rontgene Solante said that individuals with comorbidities and senior citizens were vulnerable to COVID-19, despite the current Omicron variant presenting only mild symptoms.

“Hindi tayo magiging complacent sa mga vulnerable populations maski sasabihin pa natin ‘yung messaging natin na mild lang ‘to, walang problema, hindi natin masasabi ‘yan sa vulnerable populations,” he said.

“In fact, ang mga kadalasan nitong namamatay dahil doon sa mga complications ng mga comorbidities nila,” he added.

Solante added that heart complications are the usual cause of death.

“Meron pa rin na pneumonia ang presentation. Nagtataka nga kami, parang Delta-like an presentation na mataas ang oxygen requirements tapos eventually, nahirapan, naapektuahan ang puso. Komplikasyon sa puso ang kadalasang nakikita namin na [dahilan kung bakit] namamatay sila,” he added.

The Department of Health (DOH) announced on Friday that the country was experiencing an increase in COVID-19-related deaths during the past months, in contrast to the one death per day average from last June.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that based on their July 1 to August 14 data, at least 63% of these fatalities were those who were unvaccinated.

Solante, however, stressed that there was still a risk of a breakthrough COVID-19 infection or reinfection despite being vaccinated against the viral disease.

Based on the DOH’s national COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, 72.3 million Filipinos have now completed their primary vaccine series, while 17.4 million of which have received their booster shots. — DVM, GMA News