MALAYSIA today recorded a lower double digit growth in both new Covid-19 infections and recoveries than previously.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there were 16 new infections reported as of noon, of which three were imported and 13 were locally transmitted cases.

Of the 13 local cases, he said, nine were foreigners and four were Malaysians.

“Six of the nine cases involving non-citizens were linked to the Pedas cluster in Negri Sembilan, while two were connected to the cleaning contract cluster in Selangor.

“Another case was discovered at the temporary immigration detention centre in Tawau, Sabah, where the detainee was held while waiting to be repatriated to Indonesia,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, he said, two of the four cases involving Malaysians were from the Kidurong cluster reported in Sarawak, close contacts of a positive case.

Noor Hisham said the third case involved someone detained in a police lock-up in Malacca, while the fourth was discovered during a pre-surgery screening at a hospital in Johor.

He said the 16 new cases brought the national tally of infections to 8,572, with 295 active cases.

As for recoveries, 10 people have been discharged from hospitals after fully recovering from the virus.

Noor Hisham said the cumulative total of recoveries from Covid-19 in the country now stands at 8,156, which translates into 95.1% of the total number of cases.

No fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours, keeping the death toll at 121. – June 21, 2020.