Ever since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Malaysia following with a huge Covid-19-related cluster from a tabligh gathering event in Sri Petaling that was held in late February, the number of confirmed cases continues to surge. As we follow through the updates provided by the Ministry of Health every day, it seems that a number of attendees have yet to show up for the Covid-19 test.Ā
The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has revealed that they have received the data on the chain of Covid-19 infection in Malaysia provided by the Ministry of Health, according to Bernama. The shocking part was that a total of 40,000 people were involved in this infection chain, and among these people includes those linked with the cluster from the tabligh gathering.
Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador, stated the data was analysed by a task force from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headed by Bukit Aman CID chief, Datuk Huzir Mohamed, to identify those who are most likely to be infected by the virus. Tan Sri Abdul Hamid also mentioned that based on the data provided by the Ministry of Health, the police managed to identify several areas where there were certain individuals and groups that were required to go for Covid-19 screening.
“We analysed the data by helping the MOH to identify up to about 11,000 tabligh members who attended the assembly at the Sri Petaling Mosque, here, recently. From this data, the team refined and used specific methods to identify the network of close contacts, travel and who might be affected by those involved.”
Tan Sri Abdul Hamid told the press that the police also managed to identify the people concerned and had retrieved crucial information like home addresses, telephone numbers as well as Identification Card numbers.
“We identified the individuals concerned, including getting complete information, such as their home address, telephone number and identity card number, to give to MOH for the persons concerned to attend Covid-19 screening.”
Seeing how there are quite a lot of tabligh attendees who attempted to hide their travelling history out of fear, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid urged the public to not criticise and discriminate them. His team is still trying to retrieve information on the tabligh members who are currently overseas. They will also hand over the information to the Immigration authorities to take necessary action upon these people’s arrival back in Malaysia.
“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.”
Other than the information given by Tan Sri Abdul Hamid, it was reported that the organiser of the tabligh gathering at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling claimed that 95 per cent of the 11,000 attendees had been screened for Covid-19.
We hope that the remaining people who have been screened will do so immediately to avoid possibly affecting more people and creating a bigger chain.
