By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter 

The Philippines posted 3,788 coronavirus infections on Friday, the fourth straight day the tally fell below 5,000. 

This brought the total to 3.63 million, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a bulletin. The death toll hit 54,854 after 72 more patients died, while recoveries rose by 5,652 to 3.48 million.  

The agency said 14.7% of 32,795 samples on Feb. 9 tested positive for COVID-19, still above the 5% threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Of 91,147 active cases, 3,261 did not show symptoms, 83,145 were mild, 2,986 were moderate, 1,443 were severe and 312 were critical. 

DoH said 97% of the latest cases occurred on Jan. 29 to Feb. 11. The top regions with new cases in the past two weeks were Metro Manila with 470, Western Visayas with 455, and Davao with 453. It added that 44% of new deaths occurred in February and 32% in January. 

The agency said 726 duplicates had been removed from the tally, 449 of which were reclassified as recoveries and one was tagged as a death, while 52 recoveries were relisted as deaths. One laboratory failed to submit data on Feb. 9. 

It said 34% of intensive care unit beds in the country had been used, while the rate for Metro Manila was 24%. 

Earlier in the day, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire refuted a claim by researchers from the University of the Philippines that Manila, the capital and nearby cities were now at low risk from the coronavirus. 

“Although cases in the National Capital Region are falling, our metrics shows that it is still under moderate risk, not low risk,” she told an online news briefing in mixed English and Filipino. 

Metro Manila’s daily attack rate was 12.53, with a seven-day moving average of 886 per day, she said. 

OCTA Research Group fellow Fredegusto P. David on Wednesday said the capital region was at low risk from the coronavirus.  

 “I don’t understand why our metrics don’t align,” Ms. Vergeire said. “It’s confusing people. DoH is the official source and we are using metrics that show NCR is still classified as moderate risk.” 

OCTA uses data from DoH and the website of The Act Now Coalition, a nonprofit group founded by volunteers in March 2020. 

Edsel T. Salvana, director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the National Institutes of Health-University of the Philippines Manila, said they consider the level of community transmission and vaccination rate, among other things, before classifying the risk level. 

Meanwhile, Ms. Vergeire said the coronavirus is not yet endemic because infections have yet to stabilize. 

She also said the government is preparing for an eventual shift to Alert Level 1, which will become the so-called new normal.  

The Philippines is scrambling to vaccinate more people as it reopens the economy.  

On Thursday, it took delivery of 3.4 million doses of Pfizer, Inc.’s coronavirus vaccines donated by the United States under a global initiative for equal access. 

“As the largest contributor to COVAX, the United States has facilitated the delivery of more than 69 million vaccine doses [to the Philippines, including more than 28.5 million doses donated by the American people,” the US Embassy said in a statement on Friday. 

Ms. Vergeire said the government’s two-day vaccination campaign on Feb. 10 to 11 would be extended until Feb. 18. 

She said 662,318 vaccine doses were injected on the first day of the immunization drive, 442,236 of which were first doses and 219,972 were boosters. The government seeks to fully vaccinate 77 million people by end-March. The country has fully vaccinated 60 million people. 

She said only four of 52,262 children aged 5 to 11 who were vaccinated against COVID-19 in 56 sites nationwide experienced minor adverse reactions. 

Rajendra Prasad, the World Health Organization’s acting representative to the Philippines, said 2.5 million seniors have yet to be vaccinated. 

“Vaccinating older people is one of the most impactful ways to save lives during this pandemic,” he separately told a televised news briefing. “We know that senior citizens are at high risk of developing severe disease, getting hospitalized and dying from COVID-19.”