By Analou De Vera
The number of cases of fireworks-related injuries (FWRIs) has climbed to 46 ahead of the New Year's Eve celebration.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
Based on the Fireworks-Related Injury Surveillance 2019 Report No. 8, the figure already matched the number of cases reported during the same period last year. The cases were recorded from December 21 to 5:59 a.m. of December 29.
The DOH said that all 46 FWRIs were due to fireworks. It noted that 33 cases had “blast/burn injuries not requiring amputation; 14 had eye injuries, and one had blast/burn injury requiring amputation.
The top firecrackers that caused the injuries were Piccolo, Boga, Five-Star, Kwitis, and Luces.
“No stray bullet injury or firework ingestion reported. no death reported,” the DOH noted.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III expressed alarm on the number of cases of fireworks-related injuries.
"It has already matched the number of cases in 2018. So this is not a good sign as the number may equal, if not exceed, the total for the entire period (for 2018)," said Duque in a television interview.
During the 2018 holidays, a total of 340 injuries were reported from December 21, 2018, to January 5, 2019.
Duque said that the rise in the number of cases may be attributed to the improving weather condition. “Also, I think the public have the capacity to buy fireworks despite them being expensive. So, there are those that are insistent and do not heed our repeated appeal to welcome the New Year safely," he added.