The latest on the COVID-19 cases in the country continue to see positive development as the number of patients recovering from the virus has surpassed the record of new infections as of Thursday.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 121 cases were reported free of COVID-19 infection and allowed to go home, raising the total of those who have recovered to 1,608 or 36 per cent.

“As at noon April 9, 2020, 109 new cases have been reported. This has resulted in a total of 4,228 cases of COVID-19 in Malaysia.

“This means that the number of cases discharged today also exceeds the number of new cases reported.

"To date, 72 cases of COVID-19 positive are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Of these, 43 cases are needing respiratory assistance," he said at a daily press conference here Thursday.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said two more deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in the country, making the cumulative number of deaths to be 67 cases or 1.58 per cent of the total number of cases.

According to him, both the 66th and 67th victims were Malaysian citizens.

“The 66th death (case 2798) was a 59-year-old Malaysian citizen with a history of autoimmune diseases and several other chronic diseases.

“He has a history of attending the (tabligh) gathering in Sri Petaling. He was hospitalized in Malacca on March 31, 2020 and was pronounced dead on April 9, 2020 at 5 am.

“The 67th death (case 2864) was a 23-year-old Malaysian citizen with a history of thyroid disease.

"He has a history of close contact with two positive cases of COVID-19 (i.e. case 2469 and case 2470) and is the fifth-generation case of a church conference cluster in Kuching, Sarawak (he was not a participant in that conference).

"He was admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital on March 30, 2020 and was pronounced dead on April 9, 2020 at 9.42 am," he said.