KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia reported 2,643 new COVID-19 infections, the health ministry said on Friday, bringing the national total to 131,108.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that two of the new cases are imported and 2,641 are local transmissions.

Another 16 new deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 537.

Another 2,708 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 105,431, or 80.4 percent of all cases.

Of the remaining 25,140 active cases, 170 are being held in intensive care units and 82 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

Separately, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who coordinated the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions, told a press briefing that the government would announce new measures next week to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Noor Hisham had warned earlier this week that the health system has been pressured and is at a "breaking point" due to the surge in new cases, adding that new measures were needed.

Meanwhile, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency has given conditional registration for the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.

"We are still waiting for a few additional info from Pfizer but this means it can be used in Malaysia," he said in a brief statement. Enditem

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