MANILA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines reported 1,037 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 4,044,000.

The Department of Health (DOH) said the number of active cases dropped to 17,426, while 24 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, taking the death toll to 64,794.

Metro Manila, the capital region with over 13 million people, tallied 443 new cases.

The Philippines reported its highest COVID-19 single-day tally of 39,004 new cases on Jan. 15. The country, with a population of around 110 million, has fully vaccinated over 73.8 million people.