Malaysia reports 4,275 new coronavirus cases, highest daily infection rate

Saturday (Jan 23) was the 10th consecutive day with more than 3,000 daily cases for Malaysia. PHOTO: AFP

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) - Malaysia's health authorities reported 4,275 new coronavirus cases on Saturday (Jan 23), the highest daily infection rate so far, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 180,455.

The South-east Asian country also reported seven new fatalities, bringing the total number of deaths to 667.

Saturday was the 10th consecutive day with more than 3,000 daily cases. The daily number of infections surged past 4,000 cases in three of those days including on Saturday.

The whole of Malaysia, except for Sarawak state, has been placed under a strict partial lockdown called movement control order (MCO) until Feb 4.

The last time MCO was imposed was on March 18 last year when the daily cases stood at 117.

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