Sri Petaling Mosque unconvinced Covid-19 case originated at tabligh convention

The Sri Petaling Mosque continues to draw Muslims despite the Covid-19 scare.

KUALA LUMPUR: A leader of the Sri Petaling Mosque committee says he is not convinced that a tabligh (missionary) convention held there is the source of a Covid-19 case.

Speaking to FMT, the mosque committee’s deputy chairman Mohd Salleh Abd Mubin said public perception linking the mosque to Covid-19 patient No 131 was inaccurate as it has yet to be clinically proven by the health ministry.

“I don’t want this to get out of control to the point that the mosque’s name is tied to all sorts of perceptions.

“We do not even know if the person who tested positive was already infected before the convention or after or while travelling in an airplane,” he said at the mosque.

FMT’s visit to the mosque found that it was business as usual and that the committee had also prepared hand sanitisers around the building.

Some missionaries were seen wearing face masks while at the mosque.

Yesterday, the health ministry said the 131st case of Covid-19 was among the 10,000 who had attended an Islamic missionary gathering at the mosque from Feb 27 to March 1.

Earlier, the ministry said it was tracing more than 5,000 Malaysians believed to have participated in the gathering after Brunei alerted them that its first case of Covid-19 had attended the mass gathering.

Salleh said health officials had come to the mosque yesterday to screen some 400 tahfiz students who are staying near the mosque’s grounds.

He also said most of the convention’s attendees were local, though some 1,500 came from 25 countries, including Singapore, Brunei, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

“A large number of them have gone back and there are some who are in the midst of leaving or planning to leave in two weeks to a month.

“We have already told those who attended that if they are showing any symptoms, they should go for checks.”

Meanwhile, Harian Metro reported that most of those who attended the missionary convention had come to the mosque for health screening as advised by the ministry. - FMT