KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) - Malaysia reported another 22,597 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Saturday, bringing the national total to 1,685,510.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that 12 of the new cases are imported and 22,585 are local transmissions.

Another 252 more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 15,802.

Some 19,492 more patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 1,401,160 or 83.1 percent of all cases.

Of the remaining 268,548 active cases, 986 are being held in intensive care and 451 of those are in need of assisted breathing.