KUALA LUMPUR: Markaz Dakwah & Tabligh Malaysia today claimed that there are only some 500 participants of the tabligh ijtimak (convention) who have not yet undergone health checks.
Its committee member Abdullah Cheong also denied reports saying that some 16,000 attended the convention held at Seri Petaling Mosque here from Feb 28 to March 2.
“Based on our data, only around 12,500 people including 1,600 from overseas attended the ijtimak, which means there were only 11,000 local participants.
“According to the Health Ministry data, as at March 19, some 10,500 participants had undergone health checks. Therefore, we concluded that there are only some 500 who have not yet been tested for Covid-19,” he said in a statement.
Abdullah also dismissed reports saying that there were thousands of Rohingyas at the gathering as the official record showed only around 200 Rohingyas and 150 people from Myanmar participated in the convention.
He explained that the statistics were based on participants performing maghrib prayer at the mosque on Feb 29 as well as those who were assigned tasks such as cooking and manning traffic.
“Our calculations are also based on past registration records as we have been holding the ijtimak for years,” he added.
On health screen for Covid-19, Abdullah said the organisation had received numerous reports about the participants went to the district health offices and hospitals to undergo screening after it was reported that a few tabligh participants were tested positive for Covid-19.
“We were informed that as they did not show any symptoms they were told to go home and undergo a 14-day self-quarantine. However, we are concerned that their details are not recorded before being sent home,” he said.
Abdullah added many of the participants had gone to the health offices and hospitals repeatedly until their details were recorded. - Bernama
