ABOUT 4,000 Malaysians who had attended a tabligh programme in a mosque in Sri Petaling at the end of February are yet to be tested for Covid-19.

About 10,500 of the 14,500 participants have been tested for Covid-19, said the Health Ministry today.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in the ministry’s Telegram channel that 10,553 have been checked as of midnight yesterday.

“A total of 4,986 samples were taken and 513 were identified to be positive of the virus,” he said.

One of the infected tabligh attendees died on Tuesday in Johor Baru’s Sultanah Aminah Hospital intensive care unit.

The 34-year-old man developed a fever on March 5 and was admitted to Permai Hospital on March 12.

Many tabligh participants have proven reluctant to submit to testing and health authorities urge them to come forward. 

“We urge the remaining participants to step forward to be tested for Covid-19,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

Yesterday, a two-week movement restriction order took effect, and people are advised to stay at home and practice social distancing if they need to go out to get essential services.

Malaysia has seen a spike in Covid-19 cases in the past week with 790 confirmed cases reported as of yesterday, largely attributed to the tabligh cluster.

Sixty people have recovered and been discharged from hospital, and two deaths have been recorded.

About 16,000 people had attended the three-day event on February 27, of which 14,500 were locals.

Infections traced to the event have been reported in Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia. – March 19, 2020.