Metro Manila, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has recorded 28 firecracker-related injuries, with eight new incidents added during the Christmas week.

In its latest post, the DOH said the eight new recorded injuries were tallied from 62 Sentinel Hospitals from Dec. 21 to Dec. 25 at 4 a.m.

The department said this is a 50 percent drop from the 56 recorded cases for the same period last year.

Of the 28 cases, more than half at 68 percent were aged 19 years old and below while the remaining 32 percent were 20 years old and above.

DOH said the injuries were mostly caused by illegal firecrackers 5-star, boga, and triangulo.

The department advised the public to immediately send an injured individual to the nearest hospital or clinic or call the national emergency hotline at 911.