KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian health authorities reported 23,564 new coronavirus infections on Friday (Aug 20), a new daily record, bringing the cumulative total to 1,513,024.

The latest tally surpassed the record high of 22,948 set just a day before on Thursday.

Selangor reported the highest number of cases at 6,974. Sabah comes in second with 2,738 cases, followed by Sarawak with 2,548. These are new state records.

The numbers in other states are as follow: Kedah (1,932 cases), Kuala Lumpur (1,652), Penang (1,523), Johor (1,323), Kelantan (1,281), Perak (1,248), Melaka (610), Terengganu (521), Pahang (517), Perlis (64), Putrajaya (24) and Labuan (one).

Sarawak on Friday said it is prohibiting dining in at eateries and shorterning business hours in the southern zone - covering eight districts including state capital Kuching - for one week from Aug 22 to 29, after the state breached the 2,000 mark for the first time.

Malaysia has been ramping up its vaccination drive, which started in February. As at Thursday, 54 per cent of the population have received at least one dose of a vaccine and 36 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Yesterday, it received 200,000 doses of the CanSino Covid-19 vaccine - its first shipment of 3.5 million doses ordered from China's CanSino Biologics.

The shipment adds to its arsenal of vaccines approved for its National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme - Pfizer-BioNTech/Cominarty, Sinovac and AstraZeneca.

Approval has also been granted for Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Covid-19 vaccine.