Ecuador's Ministry of Health on Friday reported 818 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and six deaths in the last 24 hours, raising the accumulated caseload to 208,828 and the death toll to 9,433.

According to the ministry's daily pandemic report, another 4,551 deaths were likely caused by the virus, but not confirmed.

Outbreaks continue to grow in all 24 Ecuadorian provinces, with north-central Pichincha the hardest hit, with 74,143 cases of infection, or 35.5 percent of the national total.

The capital Quito, located in Pichincha, remains the epicenter of the outbreak in Ecuador, with a cumulative 68,319 cases, after registering 178 new infections in the last 24 hours.

On Dec. 21, the government decreed a new 30-day state of emergency to help stop the spread of COVID-19 with extraordinary measures, such as a nighttime curfew.