THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) on Tuesday apologized for mistakenly identifying some cities in Metro Manila as emerging hotspots for coronavirus infections.

In a statement on Monday night, the agency said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire had erred when she used June data in saying that cases have increased in the cities of Marikina, Muntinlupa, Makati and Quezon.

As of July 5, COVID-19 infections in most of the cities have declined, DoH said. Cases by 68% in Marikina, by 10% in Muntinlupa and by 4% in Makati, it added.

The agency is monitoring Quezon City, which posted a 34% increase.

“We apologize for the confusion,” DoH said. “This is our up to date record. We will redouble our efforts to keep our reports as current as possible.”

Mr. Vergeire told a news briefing on Monday cases had been rising in the past two weeks.

She said Marikina had 51 more cases and a 43.47% increase, while Muntinlupa City had 30 new cases or a 35.16% increase. Quezon City had 406 new cases or a 34.5% increase, while Makati had 135 new cases or a 30.18% increase.

Ms. Vergeire also said cases in the Visayas region have been falling, but a “clustering of cases” has been observed in 64 towns in Cebu province and 314 towns in Metro Manila. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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