bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Pakistan has quarantined 20,000 worshippers and is still searching for tens of thousands more who attended an Islamic gathering in Lahore last month despite the worsening coronavirus pandemic.
Authorities said they want to test or quarantine those who congregated at the event held by the Tablighi Jamaat – an Islamic missionary movement – between March 10-12 over fears they are now spreading Covid-19 across Pakistan and overseas.
More than 100,000 people went to the meeting, organisers said, undeterred by government requests for it to be cancelled as the virus hit the country.
In northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, authorities have so far quarantined 5,300 Tablighis or Islamic preachers who attended the Lahore meeting.


“Health officials are conducting tests for coronavirus and some of them have tested positive,” Ajmal Wazir, a spokesman for the region, said on Sunday.
Wazir said thousands of Tablighis from his province were stranded in other regions because of the closure of major motorways across the country.
About 7,000 have been quarantined in the central Punjab city Lahore, while in southern Sindh province up to 8,000 Tablighis have been quarantined, government officials said.
Dozens more have been forced to self-isolate in southwestern Balochistan province.
How Malaysia’s Sri Petaling mosque became a Covid-19 hotspot
The Tablighi mosques and the movement’s other places of worship were shut down or marked as quarantine centres at the end of March.
At least 154 worshippers who went to last month’s Jamaat had tested positive for coronavirus, with two fatalities, authorities said.

Coronavirus has killed at least 45 people in Pakistan but with only limited testing available, observers worry the number is far higher.
Tablighi Jamaat is considered one of the world’s largest faith-based movements, with millions of followers, particularly in South Asia, and sends preachers to countries to spread Islam’s ideas.
Numerous foreign nationals attended this year from countries including China, Indonesia, Nigeria and Afghanistan, organisers said.
Coronavirus outbreak at Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi spurs Islamophobia
About 1,500 foreigners are now quarantined in Pakistan, but others left the country without being tested.
Gaza’s health ministry confirmed last month its first two cases of coronavirus were Palestinians who had attended the gathering.

Pakistan’s science minister Fawad Chaudhry earlier expressed exasperation that the event had gone ahead, blaming the “stubbornness of the clergy”.
Organisers said they cut the gathering short following advice from the authorities, however at the time they said it was due to rainy weather.
Similar Tablighi Jamaat congregations held in Malaysia and India during the coronavirus pandemic have been blamed for spreading the virus to other nations.


Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotels sees ‘bleisure’ boom after pandemic curbs, CEO says

US could require US$15,000 bonds for some tourist, business visas

China’s Shenzhen, Guangzhou airports hit record highs, surpass pre-Covid passenger levels

Landmark US Chinatown survived Covid, anti-Asian violence – but tariffs pose new threat

Coronavirus pandemic

Fears of massive Pakistan coronavirus outbreak after 100,000 attended Lahore religious gathering

Worshippers at weekly Friday prayers in Peshawar, Pakistan. Photo: EPA

epa08341166 People maintain safe distance as a limited number of people were allowed to offer Friday prayers at a closed Mosque as authorities suspended religious gathering during weekl?y prayers, amid lockdown of the Punjab province amid the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 03 April 2020. Countries aroun?d the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA-EFE/SOHAIL SHAHZAD

A man walks through a disinfecting booth on a street in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Photo: AFP

Coronavirus: how Malaysia’s Sri Petaling mosque became a Covid-19 hotspot

A man walks out from the Sri Petaling mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday. Photo: AP

Coronavirus outbreak at Muslim group Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi spurs Islamophobia in India

Indian paramedics facilitate the transport of Muslims to a quarantine facility, after several people who attended an Islamic congregation earlier this month in the Nizamuddin area of New Delhi tested positive for Covid-19. Photo: AP

A Muslim woman wearing a protective mask following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) leaves after attending the Friday prayers at the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) in the old quarters of Delhi, India, march 20, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Muslim pilgrims wait in bus that will take them to a quarantine facility, amid concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus, at the Nizamuddin area of New Delhi, India, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Police has cordoned off the area after several people who attended an Islamic congregation earlier this month here tested positive for Covid-19. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

News

Asia

South Asia

Coronavirus


At least 154 worshippers who went to last month’s gathering have tested positive, with two fatalities to date
Foreign nationals came from countries including China, Indonesia and Nigeria



Authorities have quarantined at least 20,000 of those who congregated at the gathering in Lahore from March 10 to March 12, amid fears they are now spreading Covid-19 across Pakistan and overseas.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Pakistan

Religion

Fears of massive Pakistan coronavirus outbreak after 100,000 attended Lahore religious gathering

At least 154 worshippers who went to last month’s gathering have tested positive, with two fatalities to date Foreign nationals came from countries including China, Indonesia and Nigeria

At least 154 worshippers who went to last month’s gathering have tested positive, with two fatalities to date

Foreign nationals came from countries including China, Indonesia and Nigeria