KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 9,020 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic and the fifth straight day of record new infections.

The health ministry also reported 98 deaths of people who had tested positive for COVID-19, another daily record. The latest figures took the total number of cases in the country to 558,534 and deaths to 2,650.

Malaysia has seen a surge in coronavirus incidence in recent weeks, partly due to highly transmissible variants.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday announced a two-week nationwide lockdown starting in June, allowing only essential economic and service sectors to stay open.