Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases soared to 1, 623 on Thursday from 889 on Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH).

This mirrored the 6.6 percent positivity rate from 30, 933 tested on December 28 from 4.5 percent reported on Wednesday.

The last time there were more than 1,000 cases was in November 23, when there were 1,153 COVID-19 cases

There were 133 persons who died from COVID-19 but the DOH said four persons died in December, with the rest occurring in previous months but confirmed only now.

Total fatalities are 51,373.

There were 133 persons who overcame COVID-19 to bring total recoveries to 2, 778, 115.

Total cases are at 2, 841, 260 out of which 11, 772 are active cases. Mild cases account for 5, 737 cases; moderate, 3,315; severe, 1,771; asymptomatic, 577 and critical, 372. DMS