Death toll from Typhoon Yolanda reaches 5,560

MANILA, Philippines - Sixty more bodies were added to the slow but growing number in the official list of fatalities left by Typhoon Yolanda when it ravaged the Visayas region and nearby areas more than two weeks ago.

As of yesterday, the official count of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NRRMC) has increased to 5,560 dead.

The NDRRMC also reported 26,136 people were injured and 1,757 still missing. Officials said the missing would be considered dead unless they showed up and notified the authorities.

NDRRMC executive director Eduardo del Rosario explained they cannot just include the newly recovered bodies in its official death count without certification of concerned local government offices.

“The mayor and city or town health officers need to certify the number of fatalities in their respective locality,” Del Rosario said.

In his report, Del Rosario said the total number of affected families in the storm-battered regions has been placed at 2,317,553 families or more than 10 million individuals.

Close to a million of these individuals are now staying in 1,091 government and non-government run evacuation centers.

The NDRRMC also reported the storm had destroyed infrastructure and agricultural crops valued at P24.5 billion.

Eastern Visayas registered the highest number of fatalities with 5,240 mostly from Tacloban City and Palo, Leyte, followed by Western Visayas with 215, Central Visayas with 74, Mimaropa region 4B (Mindoro-Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) with 19, Bicol Region with seven, Calabarzon region-4A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) with three and one each from Zamboanga City in Western Mindanao and Surigao del Sur in Caraga region.

The government rescue and retrieval operations under the Joint Task Force were able to retrieve 15 bodies in Tacloban City on Tuesday and 34 more on Wednesday.

The Joint Task Force led by Fire Senior Superintendent Pablito Corbeta said the foreign team members are scheduled to pull out from Tacloban next week.

Meanwhile, health officials warned of possible dengue outbreak in the typhoon-ravaged areas due to stagnant water.

Department of Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said they have deployed teams to conduct fogging operations in evacuation centers and other public areas. Mosquito nets are also being distributed to residents and evacuees.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), on the other hand, continued distributing relief goods to typhoon-affected residents in the region.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman also said the DSWD does not repack or switch foreign donated relief packs with local goods, as claimed by some online reports.  

She said the DSWD only conducts inspection of the relief packs coming from other countries and international agencies to check on their quality and readiness for distribution and human consumption.

Soliman denied reports of alleged repacking of foreign donated goods.

“We have to ensure that all relief goods, particularly food items, are fit for human consumption and are still in good condition. That is why we inspect the contents of the bags, especially their expiration dates,” she said. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Rainier Allan Ronda, Cecille Suerte Felipe