MANILA (UPDATED) — The Philippines is experiencing a rise in the number of COVID-19-related deaths in the past weeks, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

The country was only averaging 1 death per day in June, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.

"There is this observed increase in the number of deaths over these past months," she told reporters.

"For July, we have averaged 8 deaths per day. Sa mid-August, ganun din ang nakikita natin. Nine deaths per day naman," she said.

More than half or 63 percent of the fatalities, Vergeire said, were unvaccinated.

"Gusto lang natin magpaalala sa ating mga kababayan, mas tumataas 'yung probabilidad na kayo ay magka-severe infection at maaaring mamatay kung hindi tayo magpabakuna," she added.

• Philippines reports 3,758 new COVID-19 cases, 48 new deaths

Since the pandemic began, over 61,000 have succumbed to the disease, data from DOH as of Aug. 18 showed.

ICU ADMISSIONS ALMOST DOUBLE

Vergeire disclosed that patients admitted to ICU and severe and critical cases admission associated with COVID-19 remained on an uptrend.

The number of patients admitted to intensive care units is now almost twice of the occupancies at the start of July, she added.

To date, the country has 850 severe and critical COVID-19 cases, which translates to 8.81 percent of the total admissions.

Majority of those admitted to hospitals for COVID-19 remain asymptomatic (50.8 percent) and mild cases (40.6 percent), Vergeire said.

On Friday, the Philippines reported 3,748 fresh COVID-19 cases, raising the country's total confirmed coronavirus infections to 3,848,449.

Of the tally, some 36,115 are considered active cases while 3.74 million have recovered from the virus. — With a report from Raphael Bosano, ABS-CBN News

Watch more News on iWantTFC

Courtesy of DOH