DOH: No direct link between new COVID variants and rising deaths

The Department of Health (DOH) stated on Saturday that there is no direct correlation between new variants of the coronavirus and the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths.

As of May 29, the death toll reached 20,722 with 156 new fatalities.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire noted that only one person identified with the B.1.617.2 variant (first detected in India) has died, while 12 have recovered; for the B.1.1.7 variant (first detected in the UK), only 2% of those identified have died.