People wearing face masks walk near Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 9, 2021. Malaysia reported 9,180 new COVID-19 infections in the highest daily spike since the outbreak, bringing the national total to 817,838, the Health Ministry said Friday. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)
KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia reported 9,180 new COVID-19 infections in the highest daily spike since the outbreak, bringing the national total to 817,838, the Health Ministry said Friday.
Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that seven of the new cases are imported and 9,173 are local transmissions.
Another 77 deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 5,980.
Some 5,713 more patients have been released after recovery on Friday, bringing the total cured and discharged to 731,193, or 89.4 percent of all cases.
Of the remaining 80,665 active cases, 959 are being held in intensive care and 465 of those are in need of assisted breathing.
Separately, Malaysian Chief of Defence Forces General Affendi bin Buang said a military hospital in Kuala Lumpur is being prepared to be used as a disaster management zone, to help cope with the surge of fresh infections in the Klang Valley area, encompassing the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and part of the adjacent Selangor state.
This will include converting the hospital's basement parking into COVID-19 treatment wards, with the space having been built with access to electrical and oxygen supply and other medical support, he said in a statement. Enditem
