Malaysia reports 293 new coronavirus cases; no new deaths

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 293 new coronavirus cases on Sunday (Oct 4), taking its total number of infections to 12,381. Fatalities remained at 137, with no new deaths recorded.

Malaysia has seen record daily increases in virus cases this week, partly because of clusters linked to an election in the eastern state of Sabah on Borneo.

Out of the new infections, one was an imported case and 292 of them were local transmissions. Among the local transmissions, 269 of them involved Malaysians and 23 were non-citizens, said Malaysia's health ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah.

There were 28 patients receiving treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU), with four of them intubated, he added.

A total of 67 more COVID-19 patients had been discharged, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 10,283, he added.

READ: Malaysia will not re-impose COVID-19 curbs for now despite spike

It was reported just a day earlier that Malaysia said it not reimpose widespread novel coronavirus restrictions on travel despite a recent spike in infections, which a government minister said was partly caused by migrants from neighbouring countries.

Malaysia imposed a nationwide lockdown in March but has been gradually lifting the curbs, though authorities have warned that they could be reinstated if daily increases in infections reached triple-digits.

Malaysia's security minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government did not see the need to re-impose the lockdown as the majority of cases were being reported in detention centres and isolated districts.

"There's only one or two cases in each state so it's not something that's worrying at this point," Ismail told reporters.

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