The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has risen to 389, with 64 still missing, the country’s national disaster agency was quoted as saying on Monday. More than 4 million people in central and southern provinces were affected by Super Typhoon Rai, including 570,906 who were displaced, the agency said. Rai also destroyed and damaged over 22 billion pesos (441 million dollars) worth of private and public infrastructure as well as agricultural crops, it added. Rai slammed into the country"s east coast on December 16, flattening houses, damaging buildings and public infrastructure, uprooting trees, and causing floods and landslides. One of the hard-hit areas was the central province of Bohol, which reported 109 deaths as of Monday. The nearby province of Cebu reported at least 96 deaths. Civil defence officials said more than four million people were receiving typhoon aid in 430 cities and towns where about 482,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. Some 300,000 people remain in evacuation camps, with more than 200,000 others sheltering in the homes of relatives or friends. Survivors have likened Typhoon Rai to Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left 7,300 people dead or missing across the central Philippines in 2013 and remains the country"s deadliest on record. The archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 cyclones each year. As the government rushed to bring food, water and clothing to devastated areas, a new threat appeared in recent days with at least 140 people falling ill from suspected contaminated water. Eighty people were taken ill with acute gastroenteritis in the southern province of Dinagat Islands, while 54 people are being treated for diarrhoea in hospital on the neighbouring tourist island of Siargao, health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said. The central city of Cebu reported 16 diarrhoea cases, she told reporters. "We all know these areas suffered water interruption. Some areas still have tap water but pipes have been damaged and so there is a possibility of contamination," Vergeire said. Vergeire said the typhoon also spoiled more than 4,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines and damaged 141 hospitals and clinics, only 30 of which have resumed full operations. — SPA/Agencies