ILOILO City – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is encouraging the Ilonggos to take the necessary precaution to prevent illnesses, and worst, deaths, especially with the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Deaths recorded this year in Iloilo province were 13.55 higher compared to last year’s, PSA data showed.
In the first six months of the year, Iloilo province recorded 7,266 deaths, 4.83 percent of which died of COVID-19.
Protection is needed such as vaccination, adherence to health and safety protocols and healthy lifestyle, said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida Amolar. Local statisticians project the number of deaths in the province will increase in the coming months.
The threat of the more contagious Delta variant of the virus causing COVID-19 may jack up the numbers, said Amolar.
So far this year, the month with the highest listed deaths in the province was May (1,299), followed by June (1,262).
A total of 1,168 deaths were logged in April, March (1,222) and February (1,077).
“Based sa raw data nagataas (ang deaths) especially subong nga July to August. Posible nga malab-ot kita sa 16,000 deaths by the end of the year,” said Amolar.
In the first six months of 2019 and 2020, the province logged 6,651 and 6,399 fatalities, respectively.
“Ako mas particular sa social distancing kay maski wala ka naga-mask kag layu-anay kamo indi ka dali malatnan (sang coronavirus),” said Amolar.
In Iloilo City, Amolar said there’s also an increase in the number of fatalities.
Between January and June this year, the city logged 1,854 deaths – 23.03 percent higher than the 1,507 recorded in the same period last year.
Of the city’s recorded fatalities this year, 29.29 percent succumbed to COVID-19.
The city logged 1,578 deaths in the same period in 2019.
Meanwhile, Amolar said other causes of deaths included existing health conditions and vehicular accidents, among others.
Eighty percent of the deaths in Iloilo city and province were senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.
Checkups like tele-consultation can be done amid the pandemic, Amolar said.
The Provincial Health Office revealed these 10 leading causes of deaths last year:
* hypertensive cardiovascular disease – 1,950
* pneumonia – 1,337
* cancer (all forms) – 649
* undetermined cause of death – 591
* diabetes mellitus – 406
* accident (all forms) – 306
* pulmonary tuberculosis – 256
* kidney diseases – 243
* cerebrovascular accident – 193
* liver diseases – 185./PN
