The Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday that COVID-19 cases have been rising but not as high as in 2020 to 2022.

In a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said: "We are not denying that cases are going up. Our cases are up from 274 cases per day last week, to 371 cases per day now."

"Cases are climbing but not as big as the spikes we experienced in the past years. Cases are expected to increase, and decrease depending on the activities in the country," she added.

Vergeire said the DOH does not see the need to revive mandatory face masking policy.

"In terms of returning the mask mandate, no such discussions are ongoing. The DOH believes that the current voluntary masking policy can be maintained as long as the people know when they should wear their masks," said Vergeire.

Vergeire said the increase in COVID-19 cases is due to '' long vacations, opening of sectors, higher interaction, we really expect cases to increase."

But she said it is more important hospitals and other healthcare facilities have low occupancy rates.

Based on the latest COVID-19 report, the country has an average of 341 cases daily (April 10 to 16), which is 23 percent higher than cases reported from April 3 to 9 of 278 cases per day.

Vergeire said the positivity rate went up from 6.9 percent last week to 7.6 percent this week. DMS