KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Leaders of a religious event that took place at a mosque in Sri Petaling towards the end of last month have finally come out of their silence and urged all attendees of the event to get themselves screened for Covid-19 at local health facilities.
A man who identified himself as Mansur Ismail, had in a video that was made available to the press, declared himself as the leader of the “ijtimak tabligh” gathering that took place at the Jamek Sri Petaling Mosque and urged attendees to act responsibly and get themselves checked.
This comes after the country saw a spike of 190 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases yesterday, most of which were attributed to a spread that occurred during the event that took place between February 27 and March 1, spiking the local tally to a whopping 438 cases.
This figure represents the biggest single-day jump in Covid-19 cases in Malaysia to date. It also makes Malaysia the worst affected country in South-east Asia.
“All of those who attended the ‘Jor Qudama and Ulama’ the other day are required to immediately contact your respective district health offices, or the CPRC hotline to get guidance and medical treatment,” said Mansur in the video, referring to the Crisis Preparednes and Response Centre.
The video of Mansur was also shared by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba on his Facebook page, and has since been uploaded onto YouTube.
* A previous version of this story contained an error which has since been corrected.
Mansur had in the video also advised against the spread of the virus through unnecessary social activities, which he said could cause uneasiness among the public.
“For the period the Sri Petaling Mosque is under quarantine, no congregation is allowed to come, and no congregation will be sent out from our centre until a decision is reached at the next meet among leaders,” he said.
The three-day “tabligh” is said to have had around 16,000 attendees, of which 14,500 were Malaysians and the rest were foreigners from around the region.
Neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia have all reported new Covid-19 cases involving their citizens who participated in the event.
