PUTRAJAYA: Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah called on Malaysians to stop blaming the tabligh participants, following the surge of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Speaking at a press conference on Covid-19 today, he said what was needed now was to trace and treat Covid-19 infections among these tabligh participants, their families and contacts.
“Please, do not put the blame on tabligh participants; do not discriminate and stigmatise them.
“What is crucial now is for us to help them,” he said.
He said from total positive cases of Covid-19 in the country, 60 per cent were from the tabligh cluster.
Yesterday, Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry would work with the police to track down all the attendees of the tabligh event that was held from Feb 27 to March 1 at the Sri Petaling mosque.
He said those found positive will be admitted to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said all tabligh participants, with and without symptoms, should come forward to their respective district health centre starting tomorrow (March 25) for screening.
He said the ministry has agreed yesterday that tests would be carried out on them, even if they did not show any symptoms.