KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia reported an additional 156 cases of the coronavirus, taking the number to 4,119, health chief Noor Hisham Abdullah said Wednesday.

A total of 166 patients recovered, he said, marking for the first time the number of those who recovered exceeding the number of new cases.

Sixty-five patients died from the virus in Malaysia since it emerged last December in China's Wuhan city and spread to at least 184 countries and regions.

There are more than 1.45 million confirmed cases worldwide, with more than 83,600 deaths, and greater than 308,700 recoveries, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.