YANGON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of daily COVID-19 cases dropped below 1,000 for the first time since July in Myanmar, according to the figures released by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday.

Myanmar reported 893 new COVID-19 infections with a daily test positivity rate of 6.95 percent, bringing the tally to 490,901 on Wednesday, the ministry's data showed.

The death toll has increased to 18,444 on Wednesday after 28 new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

As of Wednesday, a total of 443,719 recovered patients have been discharged from hospitals.

According to the ministry's figures, over 4.98 million people have been fully vaccinated while over 7 million people had received the first jabs of COVID-19 vaccines across the country as of Tuesday.