The number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases being detected daily is steadily declining, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday, Feb. 4.

“ Philippines continues to see a steady decline in new COVID-19 cases,” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during the Malacanang press briefing.

“National average daily cases this recent week is lower than 45 percent than cases last week,” she added.

The average daily reported cases from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3 was at 13,269— which was relatively lower than the average daily cases from Jan. 21 to 27 at 27,151.

Vergeire also noted that the number of hospital admissions was also on a downward trend.

“With the observed decline in reported cases, we are also seeing a decrease in admissions,” she said.

“From the peak of admissions in Jan. 22 with 52 percent of total beds occupied, total beds utilization rate is now low-risk at 43 percent. National ICU (intensive care unit) utilization rate also decreased and is now at 44 percent from 51 percent in Jan. 22,” she added.

“The steady decline in new COVID-19 cases as well as the decrease in hospital admissions and ICU utilization rate further prove the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in protecting our communities from the virus,” she furthered.

On Friday, the DOH announced 8,564 new COVID-19 cases. This was the fourth consecutive day that the single-day tally stayed below 10,000.

Active cases nationwide stood at 151,389. Majority or 139,940 have mild symptoms, 6,522 are asymptomatic, 3,107 are in moderate condition, 1,500 are severe, and 320 are critical. Since the pandemic began, a total of 3,594,002 cases have already been confirmed nationwide.

Also, 10,474 new recoveries and 46 deaths were recorded on Friday. The total recoveries and deaths jumped to 3,388,399 and 54,214, respectively.

The regions under the moderate risk case classification include the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The Bicol region was now classified as low risk, said Vergeire.

“Samantala, ang Regions 11 and 12 ay nananatiling nasa critical risk habang ang kabuuan naman po ng Visayas at Mindanao ay nanatili na nasa high risk (Meanwhile, Regions 11 and 12 remain at critical risk while the rest of Visayas and Mindanao remain at high risk),” said Vergeire.

“Gayunpaman, hindi dapat mangamba ang mga taong nasa critical at high risk areas. Ang paalala po ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan, patuloy po natin sundin ang ating minimum public health standards. At para sa karagdagang proteksyon, hinihikayat namin ang lahat na magpabakuna (However, people in critical and high risk areas should not worry. The Department of Health continues to remind the public to follow our minimum public health standards. And for added protection, we encourage everyone to get vaccinated),” she added.