The Department of Health recorded 156 new Covid cases on Friday, 53 of which were recorded in the National Capital Region, an independent research group said Saturday.

The new cases brought the total caseload to 9,626, an increase of 1.8 percent after a 5.7 percent spike seen in January.

The DoH also logged 179 recoveries, and 14 deaths, one of which was recorded in the NCR.

Dr. David Guido, however, said that 100 to 150 new cases were expected to be logged nationwide on Saturday.

The nation’s Covid-19 total since the start of the pandemic stood at 4,073,706 as of Friday.

The DoH over the weekend said it will no longer extend the state of calamity as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sees Covid cases in the country have become manageable.

The bivalent vaccine, touted to provide broad protection against Covid-19, meanwhile is expected to arrive in the Philippines by the end of March.

DoH said around one million doses of bivalent vaccines from the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility co-led by the World Health Organization will be given to the vulnerable groups.

Healthcare workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities would be on the national government’s top list when the bivalent Covid-19 vaccines arrive in the country, as this is in line with the conditions set by the COVAX Facility, according to the DoH.

Earlier, Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the agency is currently coordinating with other countries that offered donations of bivalent vaccines.