QUITO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador registered 1,190 new cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 102,941, the Ministry of Public Health said on Tuesday.

The official death toll stands at 6,105, though another 3,581 deaths in the past five months are suspected of being COVID-19 related, but have not been verified.

The north-central province of Pichincha, where the capital Quito is located, is the current epicenter of the national outbreak, with 20,986 cases, including 18,945 in Quito.

In the second place is Guayas province, whose capital Guayaquil has 18,343 cases and the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the country, with a death toll of 1,666.

Ecuador has extended lockdown measures in viral hotspots, including a nighttime curfew and weekend ban on liquor sales to discourage social gatherings.

On Aug. 14, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno renewed a nationwide state of emergency for another 30 days to mitigate the pandemic. Enditem

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