September is Baguio City’s deadliest month of the pandemic, so far chalking up the highest Covid-19 death toll at 136.
Data from the University of the Philippines Baguio Department of Mathematics and Computer Science (UPDMCS) and the Baguio City Health Services Office showed the city recorded its second and third highest numbers of fatalities in April and May with 85 and 53, respectively.
It was on these months that the city experienced its third peak in cases as driven by the Alpha and Beta variants, according to City Health Officer Rowena Galpo.
The present surge believed to be propelled by the more contagious Delta variant is the city’s fourth peak.
Galpo said the city had its first two case leaps in September 2020 and in January this year.
But the Delta-driven swell is so far the highest surpassing the levels of all the past peaks on all accounts.
The city’s total mortality record per month as per the UPDMCS and CHSO data follows: For 2020, March, June, and July – one each, August – six, September – two, October – 16, November – 13, December – 26; for 2021, January – 27, February – 12, March – 23, April – 85, May – 53, June – 17, July – 26, August – 37, and September – 136.
Data from the UPDMCS and CHSO also showed cases had more than doubled in just a month from August to September in almost all of the age groups in the city.
For the to nine years age group, the figure jumped from 211 in August to 486 in September.
A similar trend can be observed in all other age classifications: 10-19 years old – from 275 to 684; 20-29 – from 645 to 1,418; 30-39 – from 446 to 1,129; 40-49 – from 305 to 676; 50-59 – from 241 to 587; 60-69 – from 146 to 389; 70-79 – from 75 to 202; 80-89 – from 33 to 78.
For the 90 to 99 age group, cases rose from four to seven while for the 100 to 109 age group, one case was recorded in September whereas there was none last August. – Aileen P. Refuerzo
