Eight new COVID-19 positive cases, involving five local transmissions and three imported ones, were reported in the country today, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

He said this brought the total number of COVID-19 positive cases to 9,257, with the total number of active cases standing at 183.

The three import cases who got infected abroad involved a Malaysian and two foreigners, he said.

"The cases were from Bangladesh (in Kuala Lumpur), the Netherlands (in Sarawak) and the Philippines (in Sabah).

"The five local transmissions, meanwhile, involved Malaysians, all of whom are from the Tawar cluster in Kedah," he said in a statement today.

Dr Noor Hisham said four COVID-19 patients had fully recovered today, bringing the cumulative number of recoveries to 8,949 or 96.7 percent of the case total.

No COVID-19-related fatalities were reported today and the death toll remains at 125 cases, he added.

To date, there are eight cases being treated in the intensive care unit, with four requiring ventilators, Dr Noor Hisham said.

Touching further on the Tawar cluster, he said with the latest five cases, the number of COVID-19 infections from the cluster has risen to 63 cases.

He said up to noon today, 2,942 people from this cluster have been screened, adding that active case detection and close contact screening were ongoing.

-- BERNAMA