MANILA - The Department of Health said Friday it observed a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila and its adjacent provinces in the past weeks.

However, at least 7 regions have reported an increase in coronavirus infections, which may prompt the agency to recommend tighter quarantine restrictions, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a news briefing.

"Bagama't bumababa ang mga kaso natin sa NCR Plus, nakikita natin ang pagluwag ng ating mga hospital (Though cases in NCR Plus are going down and easement in hospitals), we are seeing now the increase in the number of cases in other regions, pati 'yong pagkapuno or pagkataas ng kanilang health-care utilization rate (including their health-care utilization rate)," she said.

Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region and Soccsksargen are those affected by the COVID-19 spike, Vergeire said.

To arrest the virus spread, the DOH is coordinating with the Inter-Agency Task Force to possibly ramp up restrictions and expand the number of hospital beds.

As of May 27, Cagayan Valley has tallied 42,057 confirmed cases, Cordillera Administrative Region has 35,343, Western Visayas has 48,126, Zamboanga Peninsula has 17,454, Northern Mindanao has 21,394, Davao Region has 27,913 and Soccsksargen has 12,085.

The capital region, which remains the epicenter of the outbreak, has logged 499,101 confirmed coronavirus cases.

In the briefing, Vergeire also bared that COVID-19 related deaths in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal have decreased.

"Bumababa po ang mga deaths natin dito sa NCR Plus pero kailangan pa rin namin bantayan dahil nakikita namin ang pagtaas ng pagkakamatay sa ibang lugar," she said.

(The [number of COVID-19-related deaths] in NCR are decreasing but we also noticed it's going up in other areas.)

On Thursday, the country reported 210 new fatalities, the highest in nearly 2 months.

Vergeire explained that many of those deaths were from March and April at the height of the COVID-19 spike in the Greater Manila area. They were recently confirmed to DOH after final validation, she added.

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Courtesy of DOH