Kuala Lumpur, Aug 31 (IANS) Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is under self-quarantine after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 patient, his office said in a statement.

Ismail Sabri was not able to attend the swearing-in ceremony of his cabinet, which was held at the National Palace on Monday, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

It added that he would virtually attend the National Day Celebration scheduled for Tuesday.

Malaysia reported 19,268 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, which increased the national total to 1,725,357.

Another 295 people succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll to 16,382.

--IANS ksk/