Kuala Lumpur, Oct 14 (IANS): Malaysia reported 660 new Covid-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, bringing the national total to 17,540.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press briefing that six of the new cases are imported and 654 are local transmissions, Xinhua reported.

Four more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 167.

The majority of new cases are from eastern state of Sabah, with 429 of the new cases reported in the state.

Another 233 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 11,605, or 66.2 per cent of all cases.

Of the remaining 5,768 active cases, 108 are being held in intensive care and 35 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told a separate press conference that 282 roadblocks have been set up nationwide in a bid to enforce movement restrictions introduced to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The restrictions are in force in Kuala Lumpur, the administration center of Putrajaya as well as the adjacent Selangor state from October 14 to 27, and also in the country's eastern Sabah state from October 13 to 26.

Separately, the country's armed forces said in a statement that personnel have been mobilized to assist in roadblocks and to airlift medical supplies and other items to Sabah, which has seen the highest number of new Covid-19 cases in the country.