2020 Tablighi Jamaat COVID-19 hotspot in Malaysia

2020 Tablighi Jamaat COVID-19 hotspot in Malaysia
Date27 February–1 March 2020
VenueMasjid Jamek Sri Petaling
LocationKuala Lumpur, Malaysia
TypeReligious congregation
ParticipantsAt least 16,000 people
(MOH estimation)[1]
12,500 people only
(Leaders of the Sri Petaling tabligh group claim)[2]
OutcomeBiggest cluster during the second wave of COVID-19 in Malaysia with 3,375 positive cases
Deaths34[3]

A Tablighi Jamaat religious conference that took place at the "Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling" in Kuala Lumpur's Sri Petaling district between 27 February to 1 March 2020 became a COVID-19 super-spreader event with more than 3,300 cases being linked to the event.[4][5] By 19 May 2020, the Malaysian Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah confirmed that 48% of the country's COVID-19 cases (3,347) had been linked to the Kuala Lumpur Tablighi Jamaat cluster.[6] Additionally, nearly 10% of attendees were overseas visitors, causing COVID-19 to spread to other countries in Southeast Asia.[7] On 8 July 2020, this cluster was declared over by the Ministry of Health.[8]

Although much more widespread, the Tabligh event was not the first wave of coronavirus in Malaysia.[9]

  1. ^ Barker, Anne (19 March 2020). "Coronavirus COVID-19 cases spiked across Asia after a mass gathering in Malaysia. This is how it caught the countries by surprise". ABC News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Tabligh leader claims only 12,500 attended Sri Petaling gathering, not 16,000". Malaysiakini. 22 March 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  3. ^ Health, DG of (8 July 2020). "Kenyataan Akhbar KPK 8 Julai 2020 – Situasi Semasa Jangkitan Penyakit Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) di Malaysia". From the Desk of the Director-General of Health Malaysia. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  4. ^ Beech, Hannah (20 March 2020). "None of Us Have a Fear of Corona': The Faithful at an Outbreak's Center". New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Despite Covid-19 threat, thousands of Muslim pilgrims gather in Indonesia". The Star. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  6. ^ "48% of nation's Covid-19 cases linked to Sri Petaling tabligh event". The Sun. 19 May 2020. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  7. ^ Che Mat, Nor Fazila; Edinur, Hisham Atan; Abdul Razab, Mohammad Khairul Azhar; Safuan, Sabreena (18 May 2020). "A single mass gathering resulted in massive transmission of COVID-19 infections in Malaysia with further international spread". Journal of Travel Medicine. 27 (3). doi:10.1093/jtm/taaa059. PMC 7188142. PMID 32307549.
  8. ^ Health, DG of (8 July 2020). "Kenyataan Akhbar KPK 8 Julai 2020 – Situasi Semasa Jangkitan Penyakit Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) di Malaysia" [DG Press Statement 8 July 2020 – Current Situation of Coronavirus Infection 2019 (COVID-19) in Malaysia]. From the Desk of the Director-General of Health Malaysia (in Malay). Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  9. ^ Ng, Chris Fook Sheng; Seposo, Xerxes T.; Moi, Meng Ling; Tajudin, Muhammad Abdul Basit Ahmad; Madaniyazi, Lina; Sahani, Mazrura (1 December 2020). "Characteristics of COVID-19 epidemic and control measures to curb transmission in Malaysia". International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 101: 409–411. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.027. hdl:10069/40422. ISSN 1201-9712. PMC 7567666. PMID 33075527.