KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 12 (Sin Chew Daily) — Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Malaysia had confirmed the first sporadic COVID-19 case in the country.

A sporadic case is one involving an individual who has not traveled to an infected area or come into contact with any infected person.

Noor Hisham told New Straits Times the health department had conducted surveillance on 600 samples taken from people suffering from influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), and one of the samples tested positive for the coronavirus.

"Investigation is ongoing to identify the cause of this sporadic infection," he said.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham also urged organizers of major events to postpone such activities to curtail the spread of coronavirus.