(UPDATE) The country recorded 1,541 new COVID-19 cases, with the total now at 474,064 at year's end, the Department of Health reported on Thursday.

The number was lower than OCTA Research Group’s estimate of 480,000 total caseload by the end of 2020.

• Philippines may end 2020 with 480,000 COVID-19 cases: OCTA

The Department of Health also reported 296 new recoveries pushing the total number of Filipinos who recovered from the disease to 439,796.

This is the second straight day the Philippines has recorded more than 1,000 cases after tallying 1,014 last Wednesday.

Most of the cases came from Quezon City, which tallied 101 additional cases, followed by Baguio City with 79.

New recoveries numbered 296, bringing the total to 439,796, while 14 fatalities were added to the total death toll (9,244).

The City of Manila tallied 67 cases, while Antipolo city in Rizal tallied 65. Davao City logged 59 additional cases.

Some 80.8 percent of cases were mild, and 10.4 percent asymptomatic; meanwhile, 5.5 percent were critical cases, and 2.9 percent severe. Moderate cases accounted for 0.46 percent of the sum.

There were about 25,024 active cases, which equated to 5.3 percent of the national caseload.

The DOH previously said the decrease in cases over the holiday season was to be expected, citing closures of private laboratories for the holidays and the decrease in patients seen by open labs.

The country's first confirmed coronavirus infection was recorded on January 30 in a Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan City, China where the disease is believed to have first emerged late last year.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 82 million people have been infected by the COVID-19 virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus research center. Of those, 1.8 million have died and 46.7 million have recovered.