MANILA — The Department of Health on Monday said it will be closely monitoring this week’s COVID-19 cases to see if any increase could be attributed to the so-called holiday surge.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a virtual briefing that while new COVID-19 cases in December averaged 1,000 to 1,300 per day, the new cases went up to more than 1,500 for the last 7 days.

“Titignan pa rin natin kung magtutuloy-tuloy ito so that we can determine kung ito na nga talaga ang surge,” she said.

(We’ll have to see if this continues so we can determine if this is really the surge.)

She pointed out that cases won’t increase if people complied with health protocols and the only reason they are expecting the surge is because they have seen “people are somehow lax in the compliance for minimum health standards during the holiday activities.”

At the same time, Vergeire explained that there are other factors to consider such as the closure of laboratories during the holidays and the “behavior of people.”

She said people opted “not go to the facilities to seek consult and to have themselves tested” because of the holidays.

Vergeire said they will have to look closely study this week’s cases to see if the upward trend is definite or if the holiday surge is already happening.

CASES IN CEBU CITY, OTHER REGIONS

Vergeire also acknowledged that cases are increasing outside Metro Manila.

“Nung tinignan namin ang analysis namin dito sa tumataas na cases ngayon, nakita natin wala sya sa NCR (National Capital Region),” she said.

(When we looked at our analysis for the increasing cases, we saw that it’s not in NCR.)

“Isa nga dyan ang Cebu na nakitaan natin ng mga pagtaas ng mga kaso in their specific areas,” she said.

(One of those is Cebu where we saw an increase in cases in their specific areas.)

“Aside from Cebu meron pang iba. Meron tayong CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region), meron tayong Region 2 at marami pang ibang regions na na nakakapagtala ngayon ng medyo pagtaas ngayon ng kanilang kaso at minomonitor natin,” the health official said.

(Aside from Cebu there are also others. There are cases in CAR, Region 2 and other regions that have logged more cases and we are monitoring.)

According to the COVID-19 tracker of the DOH, Cebu City has 496 new cases in the last 14 days while Cebu province has 290 new cases for the same period. @ABSCBNNews pic.twitter.com/pYj7HuxqdI

— Kristine Sabillo 🇵🇭 (@kristinesabillo) January 18, 2021

Cebu City recently intensified its implementation of health protocols after it reported an increase in cases.

• READ: Cebu City enforces strict COVID-19 protocols amid rise in COVID-19 cases

According to the COVID-19 tracker of the DOH, Cebu City has 496 new cases in the last 14 days while Cebu province has 290 new cases for the same period.

Meanwhile, CAR has 1,200 new cases in the last 14 days, with more than half of those coming from tourist favorite Baguio City and Benguet. Region 2 or Cagayan Valley has 701 new cases for the same period, with more than half coming from Isabela.