Fourteen areas in the country have seen one week growth rates in COVID-19 but these are'' not significant yet,'' the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said these are located in Mimaropa, Central Luzon, Davao Region, Caraga, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Eastern Visayas.

"We saw positive one-week growth rates, such as from 0 to 2 or from 0 to 3," she said.

"These 14 areas are under Alert Level 1 with cases increasing but at less than 20 cases. It's really not significant yet as it has not yet affected the bed utilization for COVID-19," added Vergeire.

"If only we just follow protocols, we don't need to be restrictive. We should only need to enforce and closely monitor," said Vergeire.

Vergeire said active coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines could reach up to half a million mid-May if Filipinos continue to be complacent.

Vergeire said DOH has seen ''increasing complacency'' among the public.

This, she said, is seen in campaign activities and tourist areas.

"During these past weeks, we have observed that there is growing complacency in terms of avoiding crowds, in terms of physical distancing requirements," she said.

"It began when campaign activities started. There were no more physical distancing. Then, this past Holy Week, we can see there were parties, where there is crowding and lack of wearing of face masks," added Vergeire.

Most cities and provinces in the Philippines have been under Alert Level 1 since March as COVID-19 are declining after a brief surge in January until mid-February. DMS