Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 14) – Two more patients with the coronavirus disease have died, taking the total number of fatalities in the country to eight, the Department of Health announced Saturday.

One of them was admitted at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Medical Center in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, the Health department said in a statement.

The department added it was gathering details on the latest COVID-19 fatalities and “will provide information as soon as it is available.”

Meanwhile, the sixth death was a 54-year-old male with no known travel history, the DOH confirmed.

The patient was said to have succumbed to the viral illness on March 13 at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center. He died of pneumonia and acute kidney injury.

He was admitted to the hospital last March 3, a few days after exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.

The man tested positive for the viral infection on March 11.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines now stands at 64.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the virus which causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but is not as deadly, with the fatality rate standing at around three percent.

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic, but stressed that this should not cause alarm as it can still be controlled as 90 percent of infections are being reported in only four countries, while outbreaks in China and South Korea are slowing down.