MANILA (UPDATED) — The Philippines reported 2,122 additional COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest in more than a month, as the health department anticipated a surge in new cases because of holiday-related activities.

This takes the country’s total to 456,562.

The figure is the highest daily tally recorded since Nov. 8, when the country logged 2,438 cases, data showed. Since Nov. 29, meanwhile, the country reported less than 2,000 new cases.

Quezon City again topped areas with newly-recorded cases, after logging 160 additional infections. It is followed by the province of Rizal with 105, Bulacan with 91, Makati City with 83, and Davao City with 79.

The number of recoveries increased to 420,666 as the DOH recorded 778 more patients who recovered. The total recoveries account for 92.1 percent of the total recorded cases.

Twenty-five more people died because of the coronavirus, the health department said. The death toll stood at 8,875.

Active infections in the country, meanwhile, reached 27,021. The DOH said 92 percent of patients currently ill are asymptomatic or exhibiting mild symptoms, while 5.1 percent are critically ill.

The DOH earlier warned of a possible surge in COVID-19 cases, as more people indulge in holiday activities.

On Thursday, the agency said Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Davao Region, and the Cordillera Administrative Region have already recorded a spike in new infections.

• READ :Spike in COVID-19 cases seen in several PH areas as holiday activities mount — DOH

A total of 4 laboratories failed to submit data to the COVID-19 Data Repository System on Thursday, the DOH noted.

Of the 24,477 people who were tested as of Thursday noon, 1,142 or 4.7 percent were confirmed positive for the disease, data showed.

A total of 7 “duplicates” were removed from the total tally, the DOH said. Of these, 5 were recovered cases.

Nine patients previously tagged as recovered cases were also reclassified into deaths after the agency’s validation.

Over 75 million people worldwide have contracted COVID-19, according to a running tally by the US-based Johns Hopkins University, with the US, India, Brazil, Russia, and France having the highest total cases.

Since the pandemic began, almost 1.7 million people have died while more than 42.4 million have recovered from the disease, the same tally showed.

The novel coronavirus is believed to have first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan a year ago but its origin remains a mystery to experts.

WATCH: Spike in COVID-19 cases seen in several PH areas as holiday activities mount — DOH

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv