The Malaysian Health Ministry confirmed 38 new A/H1N1 cases on Wednesday, raising the total number of the cases in the country to 196.

The ministry said that among the new cases, 33 were imported ones and five were locally transmitted ones.

According to the ministry, the imported cases involved those who had visited Australia, Indonesia, Britain, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, the Philippines, Argentina and Cambodia.

So far, two Malaysian schools remained close until Friday due to the pandemic, the ministry said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2009)