THE number of active coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Central Luzon increased by more than 15,000 just two weeks after the new year.

From less than 2,000 active cases before the year 2021 ended, the Department of Health-Central Luzon reported that there were already a total of 17,025 active cases as of Tuesday, January 11.

On Tuesday, there were 2,860 new cases reported from the seven provinces in the region.

Also, starting Friday, January 14, the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Tarlac will be under Alert Level 3 until January 31.

This means that only the province of Aurora is under Alert Level 2, as Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, and Zambales are already under Alert Level 3 until January 15.