PETALING JAYA: The health ministry has announced that the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (2019-nC0V) has increased to seven, following three new cases yesterday.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said all seven patients are China nationals.
He said the three new cases were a four-year-old being treated in Hospital Sultanah Maliha, Langkawi; a 52-year-old man in Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru; and a woman who is a relative of the patient in Singapore’s case.
He said the woman, who tested negative at first, had decided to stay in Malaysia to care for her two children in Hospital Sungai Buloh after both of them were confirmed to have contracted the virus.
He added that the number of patients under investigation (PUI) had also increased to 78, comprising 39 Malaysians, 36 China nationals, and one patient each from Jordan, Brazil and Thailand.
From the total number of PUI cases, three have been confirmed to be carrying the virus, 74 tested negative and one more is pending the lab results.
Hisham said the remaining four confirmed coronavirus patients that were reported earlier were still being treated in isolation wards in Hospital Sungai Buloh and they were in stable condition. -FMT