Malaysia reports 2,897 new COVID-19 infections, 23 more deaths

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) — Malaysia reported another 2,897 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the national total to 2,746,833, according to the health ministry.

Another 192 cases are imported, with 2,705 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed.

Twenty-three more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 31,392.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Tuesday that there were 306 suspected Omicron cases out of 366 samples from travelers who had tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival to Malaysia from Dec. 21 to 25.

“We are still waiting for results from the whole genome sequencing to confirm,” he said, adding that the wait time for booster vaccine doses would be shortened amid concerns over the spread of Omicron variant.

Read more: Malaysia reports 4,298 new COVID-19 infections, 40 new deaths

Another 3,434 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 2,673,084.

There are 42,357 active cases, 302 are being held in intensive care and 169 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

The country reported 153,228 vaccine doses administered on Tuesday alone, and some 79.6 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 78.4 percent are fully vaccinated and 17.5 percent have received boosters.  Enditem