INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines —The tally of the Department of Health (DOH) of fireworks injuries have reached a total of 609 people during the recent holiday festivities as the health department closes its monitoring of firework-related injuries.
With this, the DOH noted that the injured individuals during the New Year revelry a sharp increased of 98 percent as compared with the reported cases last year which were only 307 individuals hurt.
READ: Groups warn public: Firecrackers traumatize pets, bad for environment
DOH latest fireworks injuries bulletin
For its latest case bulletin from 6 a.m. of Jan. 5 to 5:59 a.m. on Jan. 6, the health department confirmed nine new cases, all of which were wounded due to firecrackers.
Of the total count, 601 cases were due to active or passive involvement in firecracker use. One was due to the ingestion of “watusi.” Seven others were victims of stray bullets due to indiscriminate firing.
About half of the fireworks-related injuries, or 52 percent, happened in Metro Manila.
The Ilocos region followed at 10 percent, Calabarzon at 8 percent, and Central Luzon at 7 percent.
READ: Ditch toxic fireworks and firecrackers, prioritize health — EcoWaste
Majority of fireworks injuries
The majority of the injuries, or 74 percent, were due to blasts or burns while 26 percent had eye injuries, including one case that led to blindness. About a third had severe burns that eventually led to amputation.
The official count, the DOH noted, may still change in the coming days, as it continues to validate with the Philippine National Police reports of stray bullet injuries.
In a message to reporters, health deputy spokesperson Albert Domingo attributed the surge in injuries to the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
READ: Demand weak despite cheaper fireworks, firecrackers
Renewed freedom
“We see this Yuletide season as the first one without any pandemic restrictions at all. It could be because of this renewed freedom to gather and celebrate that more people chose to use fireworks more,” he said.
Domingo, however, stressed that “this remains to be a hypothesis that must be subjected to further study.”
In 2020, the first year of the global health crisis due to COVID-19, firecrackers-related injuries in the Philippines dropped by 70 percent to 123 cases from the 413 cases reported in the previous year.
ALSO READ: New Year’s Day fires: Firecrackers damage classroom, house in Pasil, Guadalupe