The Malaysian Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 21 new cases of A/H1N1 flu, bringing the total number of such cases to 825.

Malaysian Health Ministry Director-General Ismail Merican said that among the new cases, seven were imported and 14 were locally infected.

He said that of the total confirmed patients in the country, 25were being treated at hospitals, 97 had received outpatient treatment and 703 had recovered from the disease.

Meanwhile, Ismail urged the corporate sector and government agencies to prepare business continuity plans based on the guidelines provided by the ministry in order to control the pandemic.

He said that the guidelines included daily health condition checks among employees, contractors and visitors.

He added that companies should allow employees with flu symptoms to stay home and determine if they were healthy to return to work.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2009)