JOHOR BARU, March 23 — Johor police have identified and will track down the remaining 75 tabligh participants in the state, including foreigners, who have yet to come forward to be tested for Covid-19 after attending a tabligh event in Kuala Lumpur last month.
Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay revealed that of the figure, the police have also identified foreigners, such as Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and Thais, who have yet to be tested and screened by health authorities.
He urged them to assist the police and health authorities by presenting themselves for Covid-19 testing.
“Please surrender as we (police) have a list of the tabligh followers.
“The police will do all it takes to find them, and that is our commitment,” said Ayob Khan.
Ayob Khan, who was formerly Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division (E8) head, said the total number of tabligh followers in Johor is 1,450, of which 1,375 have been traced and have undergone health screenings.
“Out of the figure, 1,346 were found to be negative for Covid-19, while 29 others were positive, with one in critical condition while another has died.
“Another 75 tabligh followers are still being tracked down, with 29 Bangladesh nationals, 10 Rohingya and eight Thai nationals,” said Ayob Khan during a joint police and military roadblock on Jalan Tampoi Lama in Tampoi here today.
Present at the event was the army’s Seventh Infantry Brigade in Johor commander Brigadier General Datuk Zawawi Adam.
For Johor, 744 armed forces personnel of various ranks have joined more than 700 police personnel in enforcing the movement control order (MCO) in the state until March 31.
Ayob Khan said it is not important if the tabligh followers are Covid-19 positive or not, but they be responsible and get themselves tested.
Health authorities nationwide have continued pleading with participants of the tabligh ijtimak event, held at the Jamek Sri Petaling mosque in Kuala Lumpur from February 27 to March 1, to seek testing for Covid-19.
It is believed that thousands of the attendees are refugees and undocumented migrants who are concerned they may be detained for immigration offences if they reveal who they are.
Yesterday, the Health Ministry said that it will not disclose any patient information to third parties, in yet another attempt to convince the holdouts from the tabligh cluster to come forward for testing.
After the early success in containing the first wave of Covid-19 infections, Malaysia has experienced a sharp rise in cases, hundreds of which have been connected to the tabligh event.
