THE government has declared the areas around Sri Petaling mosque, Kuala Lumpur, a red zone, said Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa.

The mosque served as the venue for a tabligh event that attracted an estimated 16,000 people and from which a huge Covid-19 cluster developed.

Under the Health Ministry guidelines, any area that has more than 40 cases is declared a red zone, he said.

“We will be closely monitoring this area where the tabligh was held,” he said at a press conference held on the ministry’s Facebook page today.

Annuar also said that he will be checking with the National Security Council to see if the mosque is in either the Lembah Pantai or Seputeh constituency.

He also said that Lembah Pantai (90) and Titiwangsa (40) are still categorised as red zones.

Yesterday, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that one in 10 of those screened, who attended the four-day tabligh event from February 27, had tested positive for Covid-19.

He had said that this represents 743 of the 6,700 samples taken from tabligh attendees to date.

The Health Ministry estimates that 14,500 Malaysians and 1,500 foreigners attended the event, in which participants camped in tents and ate from shared plates.

Annuar said that they are still calling on those who attended the event to come forward for screening.

“We are tracking down who were there and where they have gone.

“We are not after them nor do we want to catch them. We just need them to come for testing.”

He also said that yesterday the police had arrested two tabligh members at PPR Jelatek and another one in Putrajaya.

“They were brought in by the police for tests. This is to help them.”

Malaysia has recorded 1,306 cases as of yesterday, with 11 deaths. – March 23, 2020.