KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has conceded today that Malaysia will continue to face the novel coronavirus outbreak or Covid-19 for a long period of time, following the second wave of infections in the country.

In a special address over the matter tonight, the prime minister said this has been caused by the discovery of two new major clusters, including the recent "tabligh” event at a mosque in Sri Petaling.

"Up until today, there is an increase of new Covid-19 positive cases following the detection of two main clusters that mostly involve Malaysians.

With the current trend, this outbreak is estimated to continue for a period that is quite long. It will not be over in the near future,” Muhyiddin said in his speech.

The Ministry of Health has also announced today that a whopping 39 new cases were reported as at noon today, bringing the total positive cases to 197.

This was in stark contrast with the first wave where 22 cases were reported in the country.

As such, Putrajaya has roped in 26 public hospitals and one university hospital to help tackle Covid-19 cases.

Malaysia will also continue restricting entry to travellers from Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in China, Hokkaido in Japan, Italy, Iran and the Republic of Korea.

Cruise ships would also be allowed to dock only to re-supply.

This comes as the World Health Organisation described the new coronavirus as a pandemic for the first time earlier this week, adding that Italy and Iran were now on the frontline of the disease and other countries would soon join them.