Malaysia reports 317 new COVID-19 cases, over 12,000 in total

Children wearing face masks pose for photos in front of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Oct. 3, 2020. Malaysia reported a daily spike of 317 confirmed new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, bringing its total tally to 12,088. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)

Malaysia reported a daily spike of 317 confirmed new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, bringing its total tally to 12,088.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah told a press briefing that all of the new cases were local transmissions. In addition, health authorities detected three new case clusters.

One more death was reported, bringing the national total to 137 deaths.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a social media post that his administration is mobilizing the necessary resources to cope with the surge in cases, urging the public to remain calm as the situation is under control.

"I appeal to the public to remain calm in facing the situation of the spread of COVID-19 at this time," he said. "The situation at this time is under control and can be contained with the cooperation of various agencies and continuous public health monitoring activities by the Health Ministry."

On Saturday, 121 patients were discharged from the hospital after they recovered, bringing the total number of the cured and discharged to 10,216, or 84.5 percent of all cases.

Of the remaining 1,735 active cases, 29 are being held in intensive care and four of those are in need of assisted breathing.