KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia on Wednesday announced 14 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 50, said the Health Ministry.

The 14 new cases were part of a second wave of cases started on Feb. 27, after no new cases were reported in 11 days, the ministry said in a statement.

"For this second wave, one COVID-19 cluster has been identified. This cluster involves the 26th positive case," it said.

Based on the investigation and contact tracing that has been carried out, there are 215 close contacts detected. Out of the close contacts, 16 cases are positive for COVID-19, 19 were negative and 180 were pending results.

Five second generation cases confirmed from close contacts of the 16 cases, bringing the total cases linked to the 26th patient to 21.

The 26th patient is a Malaysian man aged 52 who had a history of travel to Shanghai, China in mid-January. He started having fever and sore throat on Feb. 27 and sought outpatient treatment in a private hospital on the same day. He was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 on Feb. 29.