The Department of Health (DOH) said COVID-19 cases coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) and its neighboring areas have been going up.

"The increase in cases in NCR continues while Plus Areas are showing marginal case increase in recent days," said the DOH COVID-19 situation report Tuesday.

"The rest of Luzon and Mindanao are now showing signs of plateauing; while the Visayas maintains a slow downward trend," it added.

On Monday, the Department of Health reported 3,119 new COVID-19 cases, with 1,374 of them located in the NCR.

OCTA Research also said weekly positivity rates have risen in NCR, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Pangasinan.

DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the increase in cases can be attributed to many people going out.

Vergeire said recent opening of classes largely contributed to the rise in COVID-19 cases.

"We have really observed that about the middle of August, the mobility pattern in the NCR and nearby regions increased. This implies that people are really going out more because we feel we are protected because of the vaccines and also because other sectors are opening up, like education," said Vergeire.

"That (increase in cases) is expected because of mobility patterns... The more interaction there are, the higher the possibility of transmission will be," she said.

But the DOH said the rise in cases cannot be traced to the recent easing of the mandatory face mask policy since this was only announced last week. DMS