ANOTHER person has tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Malaysia, bringing the total number of infections in the country to eight as of today, the Health Ministry said.

The individual is a Chinese national and contracted the virus from close contact, it said in a statement today.

The 49-year-old is the wife of the seventh case confirmed in Johor yesterday.

“She is currently in the isolation ward at Hospital Permai, Johor, and is in stable condition,” the ministry said.

In terms of persons under investigation (PUI) for the virus, the ministry said from January 10 to 29, there have been 89 PUIs in Malaysia, of whom 44 are citizens, 42 Chinese nationals, and one each from Jordan, Brazil and Thailand.

Of the total, three became positive cases and are also in isolation wards in hospitals.

Eighty-one of the total PUI cases have tested negative, while five are still waiting for laboratory results. – January 30, 2020.