KUALA TERENGGANU - A Malaysian engineer has fashioned a "protective suit" made from plastic garbage bags to shield him from coronavirus when he ventured out of his house recently.

Mr Zamakhyari Khairiri complemented his outfit with a pair of rubber boots, ski goggles and a mask.

The 41-year-old father of three from Kampung Bukit Payong in Terengganu received strange looks from the public when he went for a grocery run at a nearby supermarket.

However, he remained unfazed.

"In the current situation, I don't care what other people think, and in fact, this is a way I remind others on the steps that must be taken to curb the spread of the virus," he told national news agency Bernama on Thursday (March 26).

"In places like this (supermarket), there is a high risk of infection, and this is my small way of taking care of the safety of my family and the people around me."

Mr Zamakhyari said it took him about 10 minutes to put on his outfit, with some help from his children.

He said he first went out of his house on Wednesday to buy food and other essential items, eight days after Malaysia rolled out its restricted movement order.

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin initially said the curbs will be until March 31, but it has since been extended to April 14, as the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise.

The number of infections grew by another 172 on Wednesday to 1,796, more than double the 673 tally just a week ago. Deaths have climbed from two to 20 in the same period.