MANILA, Philippines — The country’s positivity rate has further increased to 7.4 percent, the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Thursday.

The figure is higher than the 6.8-percent positivity rate that the DOH announced on Tuesday.

“The national positivity rate has increased to 7.4 percent, similar to the rates that we’ve had in the late February of this year,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media forum.

The positivity rate exceeds the World Health Organization’s threshold of less than 5 percent.

From June 30 to July 6, the country registered 8,248 COVID-19 cases, averaging 1,178 fresh infections per day.

Most cases, or over 550 infections daily, are recorded in Metro Manila, said Vergeire.

While steep increases were also logged in the rest of Luzon and Visayas, cases are lower than 250 cases per day.

Mindanao, meanwhile, had a slight uptick in mid-June and is currently on a plateau with around 50 cases daily.

According to Vergeire, growth in COVID-19 cases was seen in mild infections. Severe and critical cases, however, are still low and even showed a decline in the past few days.

Despite the uptick in infections, the country remains at low risk for COVID-19, Vergeire said.