Malaysia reports 1,683 new COVID-19 cases, total passes 90,000 mark

Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], December 18 (ANI/Xinhua): Malaysia reported 1,683 new COVID-19 infections, the health ministry said on Friday, bringing the national total to 90,816.
Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that eight of the new cases are imported and 1,675 are local transmissions.
No new deaths have been reported, leaving the death toll at 432.
Another 1,214 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 75,244, or 82.9 percent of all cases.
Of the remaining 15,140 active cases, 106 are being held in intensive care units and 51 of those are in need of assisted breathing.
Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who coordinates the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions, said restrictions already in place in Kuala Lumpur, the adjacent Selangor state and the eastern state of Sabah, where the majority of cases in the country were recently reported, would be extended to December 31.
He told a press briefing by the government has also approved the relaxing of restriction on social, tourism and sports in the country, including the hosting of international-level sports games and for local athletes to travel overseas for competitions soon.
However, the organizing of such events and travelling abroad are still subject to approval by authorities and athletes in countries deemed to be high risk will not be allowed to participate in games hosted in Malaysia. (ANI/Xinhua)