KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — About 14,500 Malaysians attended a tabligh event at the Sri Petaling mosque here, instead of the initial 5,000 announced, health authorities said.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah posted a graphic yesterday that showed about 16,000 attendees at the Jhod Qudma’ & Ulama’ Malaysia 2020 (Ijtima’ Tabligh) event at the Kuala Lumpur mosque from February 27 to March 1, comprising some 14,500 Malaysians, with the rest international participants.
Six Malaysian Covid-19 patients were linked to the tabligh event. Three were located in Negri Sembilan: Patient 136 (a 26-year-old man who studies in South Korea, attended the Kuala Lumpur event, and developed a fever on March 3), Patient 157 (male), and Patient 158 (female). One case was in Johor (Patient 151, a 66-year-old man), one in Pahang (Patient 131, a 61-year-old man), and one in Sabah (Patient 152, male).
It is unknown how Patient 136 — who had returned from South Korea, a Covid-19 hotspot, to Malaysia on February 22 — managed to attend the February 27 tabligh event, as Malaysians are supposed to self-quarantine for 14 days upon return from disease outbreak countries.
Eleven novel coronavirus patients in Brunei were associated to the tabligh event. A 53-year-old man who attended the event infected three people: a 46-year-old woman, a 12-year-old boy, and a six-year-old boy.
A 30-year-old man who attended the event infected a 33-year-old woman. A 59-year-old man from the event infected a 52-year-old woman.
The other Covid-19 patients in Brunei linked to the mosque event were three men aged 61, 35, and 32.
According to The Star, Brunei reported 14 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, totalling 25 in the sultanate. The Brunei Health Ministry said 81 citizens had attended the KL mosque event.
Singapore has reported two coronavirus cases who attended the event, leading to the cancellation of Friday prayers today and the closure of all its mosques for disinfection.
Malaysiakini reported that Malaysian attendees at the event included people from Perlis, Melaka, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak, Perak, Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan.
Foreign participants included residents from Australia, Brunei, Canada, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, South Africa, New Zealand, Tunisia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Germany, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Egypt, Tanzania, Gambia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, the United States and Afghanistan.
