PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, REUTERS) - Malaysia on Tuesday (May 25) reported 7,289 new coronavirus infections, the country's highest daily tally yet.

The new infections bring the total number of cases in the South-east Asian nation to 525,889.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that Selangor topped the list of states with the highest number of cases, at 2,642, followed by Johor at 664 cases and capital Kuala Lumpur at 604.

In eastern state Sarawak, where cases have been rising since March, the state is also recording an average of three deaths per day in May alone, says acting state Health director Dr Rosemawati Ariffin.

She said 74 deaths were reported from May 1-24, compared with 29 in March.

This rose to 69 deaths in April, which is equivalent to an average of two deaths daily.

"As of today, there are 83 Covid-19 cases in critical condition in intensive care units (ICU), including 32 who need ventilators.

"The ICU capacity in Sarawak is now at a critical level," she said on Tuesday.

Dr Rosemawati also said Covid-19 cases continued to rise in Sarawak with more than 300 cases reported daily since April 11.

The state's cumulative tally up to May 24 stands at 42,813 cases, with 255 deaths.

She said the number of daily cases increased significantly following the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations, with 3,272 cases in total detected from May 9 to 15.

This rose to 3,642 cases the following week from May 16 to 22, or an average of 596 a day.

"Most of the positive cases detected during that week were close contacts of Covid-19 cases linked to Hari Raya visits.

"The clusters involved include... clusters in Kuching. The Kabong district also reported an increase in Covid-19 cases involving relatives who visited one another during Hari Raya," she said.

For the coming Gawai festival, she urged Sarawakians to "sacrifice" celebrations by avoiding travelling across districts to visit their hometowns or longhouses.