MANILA – The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,788 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,630,637.

The DOH said 72 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country’s death toll to 54,854. Of the 72 deaths, 55 died this year, the DOH said.

The number of active patients in the country dropped to 91,147 from Thursday’s 93,307. The country’s positivity rate also dropped to 14.7 percent from 15.1 percent the previous day.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told an online briefing that the COVID-19 situation in Metro Manila is at moderate risk.

She said that the number of new COVID-19 cases across the country is steadily declining.

Except for one region in the southern Philippines, she said, all regions are at low to moderate risk while the health system’s capacity remains at low risk.

“The steady decline in new cases, low-risk national health systems capacity, and overall low to moderate risk case classification can be attributed to high vaccination rates,” Vergeire added.

The country has vaccinated over 60 million people.

Read more: Philippines logs 4,575 new COVID-19 cases, 3,627,575 in total

Rajendra Prasad Yadav, acting representative of the World Health Organization in the Philippines, urged the government to “do everything in their power” to vaccinate 2.5 million elderly people “as soon as possible.”

“Vaccinating older people is one of the most impactful ways to save lives during this pandemic,” Yadav said at a virtual news conference, adding that senior citizens “are at high risk for developing severe disease, getting hospitalized and dying from COVID-19.”

The Philippines has seen four COVID-19 waves since the pandemic began. The country reported the highest single-day tally on Jan. 15, with 39,004 new cases.

The Philippines, which has around 110 million people, has tested over 26 million people since the disease emerged.