A total of 16 new COVID-19 cases were recorded today and half are imported cases, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said this brings the cumulative figure of cases to 8,831, including 142 active cases with infectivity.

However, no fatalities were reported today, keeping the death toll at 123, he said in a statement.

"Of the 16 new cases, eight are imported cases who were infected overseas involving four Malaysians and four non-citizens who are permanent residents or allowed to enter Malaysia for work purposes," he said.

The eight people returned or came from India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Indonesia and Korea.

“Among the eight local transmissions, seven are Malaysians while one case involved a foreigner from pre-departure screening case who is asymptomatic and has been admitted to Sungai Buloh Hospital,” he said.

On the seven local transmission cases involving Malaysians, Dr Noor Hisham said all of them were detected in Sarawak with three cases from the Stutong cluster.

"One case involved the Sentosa cluster and another one from the Melbourne PUI (person under investigation) cluster," he said.

There was one case of close contact screening (case 8695) and another case involved school screening, who was asymptomatic and had been admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital, explained Dr Noor Hisham.

Meanwhile, he said four cases had recovered and were discharged today, bringing the cumulative number for recoveries to 8,566, or 96.9 per cent of the total number of cases.

“To date, only five positive cases are still being treated in the Intensive Care Unit, with one requiring ventilator support,” he added.

-- BERNAMA