KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — Malaysia recorded 13 new Covid-19 cases today, bringing the total to 8,897 cases, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced today.

He also announced one person died from the coronavirus, raising the death toll in Malaysia to 124 to date.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, the latest casualty was a 63-year-old woman the Health Ministry classified as patient number 8,743 and had a history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

“She had symptoms of fever and coughing on July 3 and was treated on July 9. She was then referred to Kuching General Hospital on the same day for further tests. She was found positive.

“Her health started deteriorating after that and she passed away at 12.04am today,” he said and expressed condolences to the woman’s family and loved ones.

Dr Noor Hisham said of today’s 12 new infections, 10 were locally transmitted and the remaining three were import cases from Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Indonesia involving one Malaysian and two foreigners.

Of the 10 local transmissions, only one involved a foreigner whose infection was traced to the Bukit Tiram, Johor cluster.

Another six patients from the same Bukit Tiram cluster are Malaysians.

Dr Noor Hisham said one more Malaysian who was infected from a cluster was from the Sentosa cluster in Sarawak.

The remaining two Malaysian patients involve one case in Pahang and one in Sabah who was a close contact of patient number 8,662.

Current active cases of infections are at 173 with two patients are in the internal care unit, one who needs a ventilator.

Dr Noor Hisham also announced six new discharges today, putting the total recoveries to date at 8,600.