47 health workers infected after attending same weddings as tabligh participants

CORONAVIRUS | Of the 73 health workers who tested positive for Covid-19, 47  had attended weddings where those from the tabligh cluster were present.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the rest had a history of overseas travel or close contact with those infected.

"Health workers and frontliners are urged to inform their respective department heads if they have had close contact with any of the participants who attended the (tabligh) gathering in Sri Petaling or a wedding in Bangi on March 6 or a wedding in Putrajaya on March 7," he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

The wedding incident had caused Covid-19 infections among medical staff in five hospitals, the worst hit being Teluk Intan Hospital.

The Health Ministry estimated that 14,500 Malaysians attended the tabligh gathering at a mosque last month.

Of the Covid-19 cases currently, 1,057 of the 1,796 cases are linked to this cluster.

According to Noor Hisham, the wedding was for a doctor and a nurse hence why it was attended by many of their colleagues especially those from Putrajaya.

"Both ceremonies were attended by many doctors. Only after they returned was it detected that many were positive for Covid-19 in Kota Bharu, Teluk Intan, and such," he said.

Apart from the Teluk Intan Hospital, four other facilities that are badly affected due to the infection of their healthcare workers are the Putrajaya Hospital, the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital in Kota Bharu, the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang and the Selayang Hospital.

Noor Hisham said that the ministry has had to redelegate healthcare staff from other departments and hospitals to cover the shortage of manpower at the affected facilities.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said 1,895 health workers who deal with Covid-19 patients have undergone screening.

Of this number, 1,167 have tested negative while 708 are awaiting results.

There have been no cases of health workers catching the virus while treating patients.

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