Some said a mosque is a sacred place, hence it’s fully protected from the infectious Covid-19 coronavirus. Others argued that it was foolish to fear the virus more than the God because the pathogen was part of the God’s creation. Hence, some simple-minded people said instead of closing down the mosques temporarily, more people should go to the mosque for prayers or gatherings.

 

On March 6, Malaysia saw its largest one-day jump in Coronavirus cases with 28 new cases. That confirmation immediately pushed up the cases to 83 – the country’s largest spike after weeks of numbers hovering below 30. On the same day, Singapore also registered its biggest jump in cases – 13 new confirmed infections. The Malaysian Health Ministry said the spike was linked to cluster case 26.

 

Otherwise known as Malaysia’s Patient 26, even though the patient did not qualify as a “super spreader”, a whopping 258 cases were linked to the “Patient 26”. It was a big deal back then because coincidentally, the country was hit with a coup crisis that saw the newly sworn-in Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin could be infected with the virus after some top officers were tested positive.

A week later, things turned ugly as confirmed cases skyrocketed to 238 on March 14 alone. The same day saw its largest one-day jump with 41 new cases. But it was just the beginning. The next day (Sunday, March 15), the country was stunned as the previous day’s record was erased and a new record in new Covid-19 cases was created – a whopping 190 new patients.

 

The new cases bring the total number of infections in Malaysia to 428 – the worst affected in Southeast Asia. In comparison, neighbouring Singapore has only 226 infected cases, while the Philippines registered 140 cases. Indonesia reported 117 cases. Thailand has a total 114 cases and Vietnam has 53. After hitting 50 cases, Brunei has banned its citizens and foreign residents from leaving the country.

 

So, how Malaysia suddenly emerged champion for the wrong reason? Newly appointed Health Minster Dr Adham Baba revealed that all the 190 new cases were related to a “Tabligh” rally that had taken place at a Sri Petaling mosque – Masjid Jamek – in Kuala Lumpur from February 28 and March 1. Apparently the massive gathering was attended by an estimated 16,000 people.

The effort to contain the explosive spread of the virus has been made complicated by the fact that out of the 16,000 attendees, about 14,500 were Malaysians while the rest were foreigners from around the region. Neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia have all reported new Coronavirus cases traceable to their citizens who participated in the event.

 

About 95 Singaporeans had attended the event in Malaysia but following the infection of two Singaporeans who attended the mass religious gathering, the Singapore government had immediately sprung into action – closing down all 70 mosques for 5 days for a thorough cleaning and disinfection. The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore had also suspended Friday prayers.

 

The state of Sarawak, which had a clean bill, recorded its first Covid-19 cases on Friday after 3 people were tested positive – traceable to the same religious gathering at the Sri Petaling mosque. By Sunday, that number has jumped to 20. All the 8 positive cases in Miri are linked to the same gathering in Sri Petaling. About 400 participants of the gathering had flown into Sarawak.

The state of Sabah also suffered the same crisis. About 500 people from all over Sabah who attended the same “Tabligh” rally have been urged by the state government to immediately report to the nearest hospitals. In fact, after Sabah’s first Coronavirus case involving a person in Tawau was announced, it created chaos as many rushed to stock up on essentials such as rice, cooking oil, soap and toilet paper.

 

Likewise, Brunei’s clean bill of health was destroyed after 11 of the Coronavirus cases were linked to the gathering. On Saturday (March 12) alone, the day Malaysia recorded an unusual jump of 41 new cases, the health authorities have confirmed that thanks to the mass gathering cluster in Sri Petaling, the pandemic has spread over 12 of the 13 Malaysian states.

 

While newly crowned Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has banned mass gatherings until May, unlike the Singapore government, he did not dare close down all mosques, let alone suspend Friday prayers. A mosque in Seksyen 27, Shah Alam in Selangor has been ordered by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) to withdraw its previous decision to close over the virus outbreak.

Yes, even as the world is busy fighting the Coronavirus crisis, some little Napoleon like the JAIS is playing God and insisted that all activities must continue until it has studied and considered the matters. Instead of using common sense, JAIS clearly was not happy that the Al Munawwarah Mosque didn’t obtain its approval to temporarily close down.

 

JAIS should learn how one mysterious religious sect in South Korea – Shincheonji Church – has been responsible for more than half of the Coronavirus cases in the country due to ignorance. Perhaps the religious man running JAIS thought the mosque is immune from the pathogen because the God will spare all the worshippers who pray there.

 

But Coronavirus is about science and virology, the study of microbiology and medicine in relation to the virus’ structure, classification and evolution. It has very little to do with God. Otherwise, how  do you explain the spread of the virus by the participants of the religious gatherings at the Sri Petaling mosque? Should not the participants be granted immunity from the virus in the first place?

Coronavirus does not discriminate along racial or religious lines. The God will not help you unless you find ways to be informed and help yourself. Nope, the virus does not kill only the Chinese, as some gullible religious bigots thought. There’s a reason why Iran became the epicentre of Covid-19 in the Middle East. Iran’s death toll from the pandemic has reached 724, with 13,938 confirmed cases.

 

If PM Muhyiddin does not take control of the situation, the country will be plunged into a deeper crisis like in Italy where the entire nation is put in lockdown. For now, it appears the new government is still indecisive and clueless about how to contain the outbreak. After 16 days since the “Tabligh” programme ended on March 1, the Ministry of Health is still tracing the 16,000 participants.

 

Get real, anyone of the 16,000 participants could be a time-bomb and most likely have already infected others after more than 2 weeks. It could be a little bit too late as Malaysia appears to be on track to become the epicentre of Coronavirus in the region. Perhaps the new government should fix some simple problem – the severe shortage of face mask.

 

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March 16th, 2020 by financetwitter

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