Malaysians from Tabligh gathering in Sulawesi will be put in quarantine centres

The government has decided that the 83 Malaysians who travelled to Sulawesi, Indonesia to attend a Tabligh gathering will be put in quarantine centres for 14 days as soon as they return to Malaysia.

The gathering was aborted today after pressure from the Indonesian government but thousands had already gathered in Gowa, near Makassar over the past few days.

According to the movement control order which came into force yesterday, Malaysians returning to the country are allowed to self-quarantine.

However, Adham indicated the same leeway won't be accorded to the group returning from Indonesia.

"For the Sulawesi case, we were informed around 83 Malaysians were at the Tabligh gathering in Sulawesi.

"We had made the decision that if they return to the country, we will have them screened at the entry point and we will quarantine them for 14 days at the quarantine centres which we have gazetted.

"This is will be mandatory," he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Concerns about the Sulawesi Tabligh gathering came following a similar gathering in Kuala Lumpur between Feb 27 and March 1, which led to many participants being infected with Covid-19.

That gathering at a mosque in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur is now the epicentre of Malaysia's Covid-19 outbreak with the majority of the 900 cases being traced back to the event.

The government had on March 16 issued a gazette listing 56 locations as quarantine stations under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Acr 1988.

These locations include the Health Quarantine Centres at KLIA and KLIA2, the National Leprosy Control Centre in Sungai Buloh and several hospitals. - Mkini