QUITO, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador registered 1,203 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the national count to 194,876, the Ecuadorian Health Ministry said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, 51 more deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 9,103, the ministry said.
Quito, the current epicenter of the national outbreak, has so far reported 64,777 cases, including 308 cases in the past day.
Danilo Calderon, manager of the Quito Sur Hospital, one of the capital's largest hospitals for COVID-19 care, told local press Wednesday that "the 43 beds of the ICU (intensive care unit)" and 170 other ospital beds are full.
According to hospital data, up to 140 people with symptoms associated with the virus arrive daily.
In the southwestern city of Guayaquil, the second worst-hit city in the country, Mayor Cynthia Viteri announced on Wednesday new measures to contain the spread of the virus in the upcoming holidays.
Police will be posted throughout the city's largest shopping center Bahia to prevent crowds from gathering, Viteri told a press conference.
"They will arrive before Bahia opens, to take over the checkpoints to reduce crowds and try to prevent informal vendors who cause chaos, especially at Christmas time," from installing their booths, she said.
Controls will also be stepped up at the city's main airport due to an increase in the flow of passengers for Christmas and New Year's Eve, she added. Enditem