BOMBSHELL – HOW ACCURATE ARE MALAYSIA’S FIGURES? 8,616 TAHFIZ STUDENTS ON THE LOOSE – ONLY 1,736 SCREENED, WITH 217 POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

THE Health Ministry is ramping up its screening of tahfiz schools to curb the spread of Covid-19, said Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The Health director-general said they received information that 8,616 tahfiz students may have come into contact with Covid-19 carriers

“We have screened 1,736 pupils and there are 217 positive cases.

“Some of them have also gone back home before the MCO. We now have to work together with the police to screen the tahfiz students,” he said at the ministry’s daily press conference in Putrajaya today.

On Monday, Noor Hisham said 195 Covid-19 cases had been traced to four sub-clusters linked to the tabligh gathering at the Sri Petaling Mosque.

He said health officials had worked with the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and the Sri Petaling tabligh shura council in tracing the sub-clusters to several madrasah and tahfiz schools.

The four sub-clusters are in Jerantut, Pahang; Penanti, Penang; Sg Lui, Selangor; and Jasin, Malacca.

Noor Hisham said of the 195 cases in the four sub-clusters, 92 have recovered or were discharged from healthcare facilities.

Of those who have been released, 20 were in Jerantut, 67 in Sg Lui and one each in Penanti and Jasin.

Malaysia today reported 85 new Covid-19 cases, making it the first time in about a month that the country reported fewer than 100 cases in 24 hours.

With the new cases, the total number of infections is now at 5,072.

One more death was reported today.

8,616 tahfiz students sought for Covid-19 screening

PUTRAJAYA: After the cluster involving a tabligh gathering at the Seri Petaling Mosque, the next focus by the Health Ministry under its targeted Covid-19 testing activities is to conduct screening on 8,616 tahfiz students from different madrasah nationwide.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said to date, a total of 1,736 of them have been tested.

“All of the individuals who were still at the respective madrasah have been tested. A total of 217 of them tested positive for Covid-19.

“However, many of them had returned to their homes before the Movement Control Order (MCO) came into force.

“Hence, the ministry is working closely with the police and other agencies to conduct screening on the tahfiz students,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham also said the situation was under control when asked on the cluster related to the gathering at a church in Kuching, Sarawak.

“The situation is under control and the ministry has no plan to enforce an Enhance Movement Control Order (for the cluster involving the gathering the church).

“Unlike the tabligh gathering, the ministry has records on who attended the gathering (at the church) in Kuching.

“Tracing (for close contacts of those who had attending the gathering) is on-going and the situation involving this cluster is under control.” he said.

NST