Remembering COVID

On All Souls' Day yesterday, among those who were mourned were the 66,864 people officially recorded to have succumbed to COVID-19.

Health experts say the infections and deaths have been underreported, especially in the later years of the pandemic when vaccines and affordable self-administered COVID testing kits had become widely available in the country.

Deaths from complications related to COVID, such as pneumonia and heart failure after the patient had tested negative for the coronavirus, often also went unreported.

Today, most people have stopped masking and all COVID restrictions have been lifted.

The government, however, continues to keep track of COVID-19 cases.

As of last Nov. 1, the Department of Health had recorded 4,140,383 COVID cases nationwide since SARS-CoV-2 entered the country in January 2020.

Of that number, 6,138 cases remained active as of Nov. 1, with the highest infections recorded in Metro Manila.