Malaysia reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the second day in a row with a single-digit increase, pushing the total cases to 8,336, the Health Ministry said.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press briefing that of the new cases, six are imported and one more is a local transmission involving a foreign worker, with no local transmission involving Malaysians.

Of the remaining 1,244 active cases, six are being held in intensive care and one of those is in need of assisted breathing.

Another 281 cases had been released, bringing the total number cured and discharged to 6,975 or 83.7 percent of all cases. No new deaths had been reported, leaving the total deaths at 117.

The latest figure came as Malaysia's plan to further ease restrictive measures to allow nearly all social, education, commercial activities to resume from Wednesday.

Malaysia has implemented a movement control order since March 18 to contain the virus, with a relaxed version being implemented since May 4 to allow economic activities to reopen.