KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia reported 8,290 new coronavirus cases on Friday (May 28), its fourth straight day of record infections.

This brings the total cumulative cases since the start of the pandemic to 549,514.

In a Facebook post on Friday, the country's health chief, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, posted photographs of exhausted health workers in government hospitals who are on the front line in the fight against Covid-19.

"These pictures paint a thousand words," Dr Noor Hisham said.

Selangor remained the state with the highest daily increase, with 2,052 new cases recorded, followed by Kelantan with 851 new cases.

The capital Kuala Lumpur posted 830 new cases, and Johor recorded 762 cases, while Sarawak reported 698.

The pressure is on for Malaysia to accelerate its vaccination drive as it battles a third wave of infections.

It has dispensed more than 2.7 million doses so far, with about 5.3 per cent of its total population having received at least one dose.

More than 100,000 Covid-19 vaccine shots were administered nationwide on Wednesday, the highest daily tally so far.