THERE was a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia last week, largely attributed to the participants at a tabligh event at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling.

As at yesterday, Malaysia announced 190 new Covid-19 cases, the largest single-day increase.

Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said a majority of the cases were from the tabligh gathering at Masjid Jamek.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia now stands at 428.

Here is a quick explainer of the outbreak originating from the religious event.

What is tabligh and who’s the organiser?

It is a religious outreach programme aimed at urging Muslims to return to the form of Islam practised during Prophet Muhammad’s lifetime, particularly in matters of ritual, dress and personal behaviour.

The Sri Petaling mosque organised this event called Jord Qudama & Ulama Malaysia 2020 between February 27 and March 1.

It attracted about 16,000 participants, including from Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

Around 14,500 Malaysians were said to have attended the event.

How did the infection start?

So far, it is not known how the infection started at the tabligh programme. The cluster came to light after an attendee of the gathering became the first Covid-19 case in Brunei.

How did the authorities react?

When it became known that an attendee was infected, the Health Ministry immediately urged local participants to present themselves for check-ups.

State Islamic authorities were also alerted to pass the message along to track down every single participant.

As at 7pm on Saturday, 4,942 participants from the tabligh gathering were identified.

Of this, 3,069 were tested with 137 referred to hospitals.

How did the religious authorities react?

While the de facto Islamic affairs minister Senator Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri reiterated the government’s call for the participants to check themselves in at district health centres, Perlis quarantined 64 people who attended the event from the tiny state.

What was the reaction in neighbouring countries?

After the positive case in Brunei, the kingdom discovered 15 other cases from those present at the event, and another eight infected by them.

Singapore identified five positive cases from the religious event and had said it was investigating and identifying its 95 citizens present at the Malaysian meeting.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in an address to the city-state also said there’s a need to shorten religious services or reduce attendance at such gatherings.

Last Friday, the republic ordered all mosques to be closed for Friday prayers after the five confirmed cases from the tabligh event visited 10 mosques in Singapore during their infectious period.

The Thai embassy in Malaysia called on Thai Muslims who had attended the gathering to get tested immediately.

Around 696 Indonesians also attended the event.

Will Malaysian mosques be closed?

So far, no such ruling has been made.

Last Friday, religious authorities urged the Friday sermons to be kept short while Perlis cancelled Friday prayers, uring adherents to pray at home instead.

Also on Friday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a special address that all mass gatherings, including international meetings, sporting events, social and religious events, will be postponed until April 30 or cancelled.

He added that prayers at mosques will have to follow the guidelines issued by Zulkifli.

What’s next?

With a total of 14,500 Malaysians at the tabligh event, it is expected that the number of positive Covid-19 cases will increase in the next few days. Also, to watch out would be cases from the contacts of the infected.

The huge jump in a day as seen yesterday is a yardstick on what to come. The authorities will continue to press upon all the attendees to get themselves checked and for them to practise social distancing if in doubt. – March 16, 2020.