Kuala Lumpur, Jun 12 (IANS): The Malaysian government has decided to extend the current restrictive measures in place by another two weeks till June 28 in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

Ismail Sabri, who coordinates the implementation of Covid restrictions in the country, said on Friday the decision was made due to the high number of daily fresh infections, reports Xinhua news agency.

"This decision was made after taking into account the number of daily cases which are still high, above 5,000 a day, with an average of new cases as of yesterday (Thursday) at 6,871," he said in a statement.

A nationwide lockdown has been effective since June 1, which bans all economic and social activities except essential services, and was supposed to last till June 14.

Malaysia reported 6,849 new infections on Friday, bringing the national total to 646,411.

Another 84 fatalities were reported, bringing the death toll to 3,768.