Malaysia records more than 15,500 new COVID-19 cases amid lockdown

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported a record 15,573 new COVID-19 cases on Friday (Jul 23), surpassing its previous high by more than 2,000 infections. 

This is also the first time the country has breached the 15,000 mark for new daily cases.

The Klang Valley area once again accounted for more than half of the new infections with 7,672 in Selangor and 2,063 in Kuala Lumpur. 

There were also 722 new cases in Johor and 530 in Penang. 

The health ministry will provide further details on the new cases on Friday evening. 

July has been a month of several record highs for Malaysia, which has been under a renewed nationwide lockdown since Jun 1. The country hit its previous record high of 13,215 cases just last week on Jul 15.

Record numbers were also reached on Jul 9, Jul 10, Jul 13 and Jul 14. 

READ: Philippines to bar travel from Malaysia, Thailand to curb spread of COVID-19 Delta variant

Malaysia also logged its second highest daily tally just one day ago on Jul 22 and marked its deadliest day since the start of the pandemic on Jul 21 with 199 fatalities. 

The surge in cases comes amid a variety of issues currently burdening the country, including a political tussle among party leaders as well as calls to reopen parliament. 

Citizens have also taken to the Internet to air their displeasure with the current leaders under the hashtag #KerajaanGagal (failed government). 

They have also established a grassroots "white flag" movement in a bid to help those who are the worst-hit by the pandemic and inadequately supported by government relief efforts. 

As of Friday, Malaysia has reported a total of 980,491 COVID-19 cases. 

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