Tabligh patients humble unlike snobby Malaysian tourists, doctor says

CORONAVIRUS | The Sri Petaling cluster of Covid-19 patients, better known as the tabligh cluster, has received a lot of negative attention due to the severity of infections from this group, and also the reported reluctance of a large minority to get tested.

However, according to one doctor, those who do come forward to get tested have been very compliant, humble and were not at all fussy, unlike some patients who had returned from holidays abroad.

"Almost all of them were very humble and very cooperative. They never complained," Dr Mohd Afiq said on Facebook yesterday.

He also jested that the group recited prayers so much that the old leprosy ward they occupied, which was the focus of many ghost stories, was no longer haunted.

But now he said, there is a new group of patients getting tested, dubbed the Turkey/overseas cluster.

"But I call them the annoying cluster," he said.

"They pretend to be victims of Covid-19. But when they were on holiday, without shame they would post photos of their travels, and some even claimed that there was no coronavirus in cold climates.

"Sometimes it feels like we're treating their sense of self-importance rather than Covid-19," he said.

Mohd Afiq said the returning tourists were very demanding, complaining about the wards they were being sent to being hot and the likes.

"This doesn't include them questioning why blood samples were being taken, why they weren't swabbed earlier," he said.

He believed this group of returning tourists to be privileged and had "big cables" whom they would complain to over the slightest matter.

Thus far as of data made available on Tuesday, 20,035 people from the Sri Petaling cluster have been tested.

Of those tested, 13,744 have tested negative, while 1,657 are positive for Covid-19 and 4,634 others are awaiting test results.

As of yesterday there are 4,119 total cases in the country, with 65 deaths.

There have also been 1,487 recoveries, which is 36.1 percent of total infections. - Mkini