A further 31 cases of COVID-19 infections have recovered and allowed to be discharged from the hospital as of Tuesday.

This raised the total number of cases recovered to 5,646 cases or 80.9 per cent of the total cases.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 37 new cases of COVID-19 were detected as of noon today.

“Therefore, the number of COVID-19 positive cases in Malaysia is 6,978 cases and the number of active cases with COVID-19 infectivity is 1,218 cases.

"Please also note that of the 37 new cases reported, two are imported cases of overseas infections, while 35 are domestic cases of which 22 are non-Malaysian citizens," he said at a daily press conference here on Tuesday.

According to him, there were 11 cases of COVID-19 being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and out of that, six cases needed breathing assistance.

In a similar development, Dr Noor Hisham said another death was recorded in Malaysia as a result of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

He added that the latest statistics made the cumulative death toll rise to 114 cases or 1.63 per cent of the total number of cases.

“The 114th death (Case 6942) was a 77-year-old Malaysian citizen with a background in diabetes, hypertension and liver cancer.

"He was treated at a medical centre in Pahang and was pronounced dead on May 18, 2020, at 3.09 am," he said.