Some 40,000 People In Malaysia Are Involved In COVID-19 Infection Chain
The infection chain includes those linked with the KL tabligh cluster.
By Sadho Ram — 04 Apr 2020, 01:29 PM
In Malaysia, some 40,000 individuals are involved in COVID-19 infection chain including those linked with the cluster on the ijtimak tabligh assembly, according to the Ministry of Health data analysed by a task force from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
The CID task force, headed by Bukit Aman CID chief Huzir Mohamed, analysed the data from the ministry to identify those who are most likely to be infected by the disease known as COVID-19.
"We analysed the data by helping MOH to identify up to about 11,000 tabligh members who attended the assembly at the Sri Petaling Mosque," Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador said.
The MOH data helped PDRM identify the network of close contacts, travel, and who might be affected by those involved in the chain
The IGP said that the data has also helped them in identifying several areas where there were certain individuals and groups that are required to go for COVID-19 screening.
According to Hamid, they refined the information by identifying the individuals concerned and getting their complete information, such as the home address, telephone number, and identity card number.
Hamid urged the public to not criticise and discriminate against the tabligh attendees, saying many of the members have been screened
Bernama reported that the organiser of the tabligh gathering at Sri Petaling Masjid Jamek in Kuala Lumpur claimed that 95% of the about 11,000 attendees had been screened for COVID-19.
The IGP said that his team is also trying to get information on tabligh members who are overseas.
"Details on them would be given to the Immigration authorities for necessary action to be taken upon their arrival back in the country. This is to confirm their arrival, whereby the police will take the necessary action to escort them to the quarantine centre for the mandatory 14-day quarantine," he said.
In terms of testing, Malaysia has doubled up its capacity and is now testing over 7,000 individuals a day from last week's 3,500
Of the 32 million population the country, MOH has so far tested about 50,000 people.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in his press briefing on Friday, said that there are more than 3,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 53 deaths from the virus.
Malaysia currently has the highest number of coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia. However, in terms of death rate, Malaysia with 1.6% is behind the Philippines and Indonesia.
The death rate in Indonesia is at 9.1% and the Philippines is at 4.5% compared to 5.2% worldwide.
