MANILA (UPDATE) - The Philippines on Wednesday announced 15,789 new COVID-19 cases, the second straight day the daily tally fell below 20,000, data from the Department of Health showed.

The positivity rate was at 35.8 percent, based on test results of samples from 48,725 individuals on Jan. 24, Monday, based on the latest DOH bulletin. This is the lowest positivity rate since Jan. 3, said Edson Guido, head of the ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team.

Of the newly reported cases, 15,061 or 95 percent occurred within the recent 14 days. Calabarzon (2,248 cases), Metro Manila (2,135 cases) and Central Visayas (1,520 cases) were the top regions with cases in the recent two weeks, the agency said.

The number of fresh cases is the lowest since Jan. 5 when 10,775 were announced, according to the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.

The Philippines has so far logged a total of 3,475,293 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 230,410 or 6.6 percent remain active. This is the lowest number of active cases in 2 weeks or since Jan. 12 when 208,164 were announced, the research group said.

Of the 230,410 active cases, 218,711 (94.92 percent) are mild cases, 6,902 (3 percent) are asymptomatic, 2,982 (1.29 percent) are moderate cases, 1,507 (0.65 percent) are severe, and 308 (0.13percent) are critical cases.

COVID-related deaths increased by 66 to 53,664. This is the lowest figure since Jan. 18 when 34 new deaths were announced, according to the ABS-CBN IRG.

Of the newly reported deaths, 65 occurred this month and one in August, the DOH said, citing late encoding of information.

There were 32,712 more recoveries, raising the total number of recuperations to 3,191,219.

The intensive care unit (ICU) bed utilization rate in Metro Manila and nationwide was at 42 percent and 48 percent, respectively.

The DOH said 142 duplicates, including 80 recoveries, were removed from the total case count while 10 cases previously tagged as recuperations were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

Three laboratories, which contribute on average 0.1 percent of samples tested and 0.1 percent of positive cases, were unable to submit their data, the agency said.

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

The Philippines has recorded three more deaths among patients that contracted the omicron COVID-19 variant, raising its total to five, the DOH said.

• Philippines reports 3 more deaths from omicron variant

The omicron, which is highly transmissible, has become the predominant variant in Metro Manila and other regions, with both the parent lineage and its "stealth" subvariant already detected in the country, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said.

• 'Not much difference' between omicron and subvariant, 1 more death reported: DOH

A sustained increase in cases was observed in the Visayas and Mindanao at 87.35 percent and 164.72 in the previous week, the DOH said.

The bed occupancy of Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Davao region was at moderate risk, while their intensive care units are at low to moderate risk, the DOH added.