Malaysia reported 172 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 7,417. The death toll stands at 115.
Malaysia has largely been reporting a double-digit increase in daily new cases since April 17 except for May 3, when 122 new cases were reported. Of the new cases announced yesterday, 159 involved foreign citizens.
A total of 112 infections were detected at three Immigration Detention Depots, Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah revealed at his daily COVID-19 briefing. Only eight of the new cases involved Malaysians.
Noor Hisham had warned the public online of the COVID-19 outbreak detected in immigration detention centers and cautioned against discriminating foreign nationals.
“The virus knows no boundaries and does not favour any ethnicity and social status,” his online statement read.
“Our whole government and whole community approach should work together to fight the virus. Negative sentiments against detainees must not be amplified and must not be a catalyst for discrimination in saving lives,” it added.
The three detention centers are located at Sepang, Bukit Jalil, and Semenyih.
Nearly 4,300 detainees at the affected immigration detention centers were expected to undergo COVID-19 testing. Those found to be infected will be quarantined at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park in Serdang.
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