The Department of Health (DOH) has observed an uptick in Covid-19 cases in 13 areas of the country.
At present, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje noted that the said trend of Covid-19 cases in those areas is not yet considered as a "significant" increase.
These areas include Ilocos Norte, Kalinga, Batanes, Quirino, Catanduanes, Olongapo City, Tarlac City, Angeles City, Eastern Samar, Marinduque, Davao City, Butuan City, and Surigao del Sur, said Cabotaje.
"Hindi naman significant pero kailangan nating bantayan (It’s not significant but we have to monitor )," she said during a recent public briefing.
Currently, Cabotaje said they are still in the process of determining what caused the growth in Covid-19 infections in the said areas.
"Hindi natin nakikita ang common factors sa lahat ng areas but siyempre iyong ating influx ng mga turista, mga umuwi ng kanilang probinsiya... Baka may mga umuwi iyan (We are not seeing any common factors in these areas but of course there is the influx of tourists, those who returned to their provinces)," she said.
"And then there might be some influx of campaign sorties. So, ito iyong mga tinitingnan. Pero lahat naman ng areas sa ating bansa ay ating binabantayan (So, that's what we are looking at. But we are monitoring all areas in our country)," she added.
The DOH previously warned the public that active Covid-19 cases in the country may increase to 500,000 next month if adherence to health protocols is not properly followed.
Based on the DOH's Covid-19 dashboard, there are 14,696 patients who are still battling with the disease as of April 23. Since 2020, the country has already logged 3,684,300 confirmed infections, including 3,609,425 recoveries and 60,179 deaths.