MANILA (UPDATE) - The Philippines on Monday posted 14,546 new COVID-19 cases, the seventh straight day the tally fell below 20,000, data from the health department showed ahead of Metro Manila's deescalation to Alert Level 2.

The positivity rate was at 28.4 percent, based on test results of samples from 52,013 people on Jan. 29, Saturday, according to the latest Department of Health bulletin. This is the lowest positivity rate since Jan. 2, said Edson Guido, head of the ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team.

Of the newly reported cases, 10,203 or 70 percent occurred within the recent 14 days. Davao region (1,381 cases), Metro Manila (1,053 cases), and Central Visayas (973 cases) were the top regions with cases in the recent two weeks.

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

The Philippines has so far recorded a total of 3,560,202 cases, of which 190,818 or 5.4 percent remain active. This is the lowest number of active infections since Jan. 11, when 181,016 were announced, the research group said.

Of those still infected with the virus, majority or 177,584 are mildly ill, 8,239 have no symptoms, and 3,126 are moderate cases. The rest include 329 critical cases and 1,540 severe cases.

COVID-related deaths increased by 112 to 54,003. This is the highest daily death toll since Jan. 21, when the DOH announced 156, according to the ABS-CBN IRG.

Of the newly reported deaths, 107 occurred this month, two each last November and October, and one in May.

There were 26,500 more recoveries, raising the total number of recuperations to 3,315,381. This is the 17th straight day that the daily tally has remained above 10,000, the ABS-CBN IRG said.

Twenty-four duplicates, including 11 recoveries, were removed from the total case count, while 33 cases previously tagged as recuperations were reclassified as deaths after final validation, the DOH said.

Three laboratories, which contribute on average 0.5 percent of samples tested and 0.1 percent of positive cases, were unable to submit their data, the DOH added.

The intensive care unit (ICU) bed utilization rate in Metro Manila and nationwide was at 38 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

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The government is urged to delay the capital region's easing of restrictions by one week to observe a lower average daily attack rate, said Professor Jomar Rabajante of the UP Pandemic Response Team.

"What we're suggesting is dahan-dahan (gradual) because... we still don’t have any research how the natural immunity from omicron can protect us. And second one, even though there's already a declining phase in terms of transmission in NCR, the number is still in thousands," he told ANC's Headstart.

"What we suggest is to wait for 1 more week because our average daily attack rate is really high. We can see next week if this will really decline and also the positivity rate will decline."

Metro Manila will revert to Alert Level 2 starting Tuesday, until Feb. 15, along with seven other provinces.

• Metro Manila back to COVID-19 Alert Level 2 starting Feb. 1

Since late December, the Philippines has seen a quick rise in new COVID-19 cases, a wave of infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

Authorities continue to remind the public to follow minimum health protocols and get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19.