The Cordillera Administrative Region Department of Health (DOH-CAR) stated that the region continues to record an increase in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in 2019 due to violations of safety and health procedures.

Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, Assistant Regional Director of DOH-CAR and the agency called Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, announced the news at a press conference on Thursday.

She said: “The surge in the number of cases we encountered was affected by the existence of different variants, but the essence of the surge in cases was that someone violated the agreement and did not observe discipline.”

According to the Covid-19 tracker in Philippine on April 13, 343 new Covid-19 cases were recorded, bringing the total number of active cases in the area to 3,870, including 99 in Abra, 95 in Apayao, and 1,483 in Baguio City Examples include Benguet 928, Ifugao 579, Kalinga 324, and Mountain Province 362.

Among the 3,870 active cases, 776 were asymptomatic, 2,742 had mild symptoms, 279 were moderate, 5 were severe, 1 was severe, and 67 were to be verified.

She said that there are 21 mayors in Cordillera, one mayor and the governor of the placement have been infected with Covid-19 and have recovered. Since the March 2020 pandemic, the mayor of Kabayan, Faustino Aquisan, has died.

“Marami kasi calls “mask” masks and wears seal protection masks on nag-ga-gather. They don’t wear masks to the party, which is why one of them was infected with the virus there, and the others were also infected),” Pangilinan said.

Peng Jilinan said that she also noticed people in shopping malls in the market, wearing public utility jeeps, masks on their chins or face masks converted into headbands.

The doctor also mentioned that most of the clusters of cases come from mass gatherings, such as awakenings and family gatherings.

Panjilinan said: “Hindi Naman Masama (yes), we abide by our cultural customs, but we should always abide by and comply with health and safety regulations.”

Peng Jilinan said that there were also 61 cases infected with the Covid-19 variant of B.1.1.7-58 infection and 3 cases of P.3 variant infection.

She said that the region has submitted 879 specimens to the Philippine Genome Center and 338 are awaiting results.

As of April 13, doctors said that 1,560 people have been identified as first to third generation contacts of people found to be infected with the Covid-19 variant.

She urged the public to keep in mind the safety rules at all times, because this is the only protective measure before vaccination.

Peng Jilinan also asked the public to implant vaccines.