After recording just one case yesterday, Malaysia today saw a surge in COVID-19 with 21 new cases, 15 of which are imported infections involving Malaysians, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said six of the new cases were local transmissions involving Malaysians, including three from the Sivagangga PUI Cluster in Kedah.

"The other three (local transmissions) comprise two in Sabah, one pre-surgery screening at Hospital Queen Elizabeth and one pre-procedure at Sabah Women's and Children's Hospital, and one pre-operation screening at Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru," he said in a statement on COVID-19 updates today.

He said the number of positive cases in Malaysia now stands at 9,023, including 196 active cases with infectivity.

A total of 18 cases were discharged today, bringing the cumulative figure for recoveries to 8,702, or 96.4 per cent of the total number of cases, he added.

Dr Noor Hisham said two cases were being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but none required ventilator support.

He said no further fatalities were reported and the death toll stays at 125, or 1.385 per cent of the total number of cases.

Elaborating on the 15 imported cases, he said the infected Malaysians had returned from Yemen (12 cases), Papua New Guinea (one), Ivory Coast (one) and the United Kingdom (one).

"All the imported cases are in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, and they have been isolated at quarantine centres after arriving at the KLIA. Therefore, they do not pose an infection risk to the local community,” he added.

On developments at the Sivagangga PUI Cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said so far 1,647 people had been screened in the cluster and 24 were found positive, 754 negative and 869 are still awaiting their results.

On the three new cases in the cluster, he said they were second-generation infections detected through screening of close contacts of positive cases.

"Two of the cases are close contacts of case number 9,000, both being children (cases 9,021 and 9,022) of the case.

“One of the children suffered respiratory tract symptoms on July 30 but did not seek treatment at any health facility.

"The third case (9,023), a close contact of case number 8,976, came down with fever and respiratory tract symptoms on Aug 2 and was treated at the Taman Selasih Health Clinic, Kulim," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said a viral message on the third case containing details of the places allegedly visited by the patient was false and the public should not share it.

-- BERNAMA