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The Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 465,724 coronavirus infections in the country, including 1,776 cases that were confirmed positive for Sars-CoV-2 on Thursday, December 24, 2020.
Quezon City continued to record the highest number of new cases with 128, followed by Davao City (121), Rizal (94), Western Samar (57) and Bulacan (56).
There were seven additional deaths, bringing the death toll from the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) to 9,055. The fatality rate rose again to 1.94 percent.
There were 533 more recoveries, bringing the total to 430,490, or 92.4 percent of the total case count.
The DOH said there were 26,179 active cases remaining in the country.
Expecting a spike in infections this holiday season, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III asked all accredited labs to stay open over the holidays.
“We urge all laboratories to help the government meet the growing demand for tests that comes with the observed increase in cases,” Duque said in a statement.
In advance, the health chief thanked all the laboratory staff for the sacrifices that go on during the Christmas holidays.
“Their commitment to continue operations despite the holidays is as remarkable as it is necessary,” Duque said.
There are 153 accredited RT-PCR laboratories and 45 licensed GeneXpert laboratories throughout the country. (HDT / SunStar Philippines)
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