Malaysia, Singapore track citizens who went to Islamic conference after some attendees test positive for Covid-19
- About 10,000 people from countries including Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines attended the gathering of Islamic missionaries from February 28 to March 1 in Malaysia
- Eleven Bruneians then came down with the virus, with several of them linked to the meeting
Authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia, which has reported 149 infections of the virus, are tracking about 5,000 citizens who took part in the gathering of Islamic missionaries from February 28 to March 1 at a mosque in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia also on Thursday confirmed its first sporadic case, in which infection occurred despite the person neither travelling to an affected area or having contact with another infected person. Sporadic cases indicate the coronavirus has spread into the community.
Similarly, Singapore authorities said they were working to identify 95 citizens who attended the Jhor Qudamak Malaysia 2020 event at Seri Petaling Mosque in Selangor. Other attendees at the event included Indonesians and Filipinos, Malaysian media reported.
Eleven of the cases are linked to the meeting. Several patients had travelled to Brunei while others were their family members who had not travelled to Malaysia. Some 90 people from Brunei attended the event.