Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday, August 2, said half of the provinces and cities in the country already showing increase in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases and healthcare utilization rate.
The health official, however, did not identify said areas.
Vergeire said this is the reason why there is a need to implement stricter community quarantine.
"We are having stricter quarantine to prevent the spread of disease and reduce the number of people getting sick," she said.
"Transmission increases as more people go out and mix together," added Vergeire.
She said this is also to prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed.
The DOH also expressed concern over increasing number in COVID-19 deaths.
"We are already flagging our LGUs and the public that the number of deaths are already slightly increasing," Vergeire said.
"This can be seen in certain regions of the country, where we are seeing growth in number of deaths," she added.
The DOH official, meantime, urged LGUs to be faster in halting the spread of the virus by doing active case finding and contact tracing and isolation of those who have symptoms and have been exposed to infected individuals.
"The time is also an opportunity to conduct a more targeted and further speed up of our vaccination. By more targeted we mean prioritizing the elderly and those with underlying conditions," Vergeire said.