COVID-19: Kelantan Health Department to track down tabligh members who attended assembly

The Kelantan Health Department will make an announcement soon to trace any members of the tabligh from the state who attended the missionary group's recent assembly at Masjid Seri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, so that they could undergo screening for COVID-19.

Its director Datuk Dr Zaini Hussin said the call will be made through various platforms, such as the social, print and electronic media, as well as through announcements in mosques.

He said this announcement was important so that members of this group could go for check-ups in any government hospital or clinic to find out if they had symptoms of COVID-19 infection.

"The Kelantan Health Department is aware of the situation and advises those who attended the assembly to go for a check-up in hospitals or health clinics.

"It is important to find out if they have symptoms or are not infected by COVID-19. At the same time, we expect that from today onward, there will be those who attended the assembly who will come forward for a check-up," he said when contacted today.

Dr Zaini said the department was informed of the matter yesterday and the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) will coordinate the necessary action to be taken.

He said the actual number of people who attended the assembly could not be determined as there was no official register and the CPRC will try to obtain information through existing sources.

Yesterday, the Health Ministry revealed that about 10,000 people attended the tabligh gathering which was held at Masjid Seri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur from Feb 27 and March 1, including a Brunei man who tested positive for COVID-19.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was reported as saying an estimated 5,000 Malaysian participants were at the assembly, and has instructed all state health departments to conduct further investigations into the matter at their state levels.

-- BERNAMA