Family prayer gathering ’caused Terengganu Covid-19 surge’
Terengganu health director Dr Nor Azimi Yunus said the people should avoid large gatherings. (Bernama pic)
KUALA TERENGGANU: The decision of a family to hold a tahlil event with quite a large number of attendees without complying with health protocols was believed to be a cause of an increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases in Terengganu today.
State health director Dr Nor Azimi Yunus said the cases involved several families from Johor, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang who returned to Terengganu for a grandfather’s funeral.
“Usually, a funeral will be followed by a tahlil event. Forty-five family members attended the event and 15 of them were tested positive for Covid-19.
“There were symptomatic individuals among the family members, hence the huge number of infections. Those individuals should not have made that interstate travel or should have complied with the SOP to avoid infection,” she said in a Facebook posting today.
The state health department recorded 22 new cases of Covid-19 today, bringing the total active cases in the state to 110.
Nor Azimi said the increase in cases due to interstate travel and family gatherings had happened before in Besut when several families from Kuantan, Pahang and Johor returned to visit a sick 100-year-old grandmother. Five of them ended up testing positive, including the grandmother who died soon after.
“There were also neighbours who tested positive for the disease after visiting the deceased’s family. So, please learn the lesson from these incidents. Avoid attending a mass gathering because we cannot be certain that no one is carrying the virus.
“Not that we are disallowing anyone to return to their hometown but they should take precautions and comply with the SOP. If they cannot comply, then prevention is better,” she added.
State health director Dr Nor Azimi Yunus said the cases involved several families from Johor, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang who returned to Terengganu for a grandfather’s funeral.
“Usually, a funeral will be followed by a tahlil event. Forty-five family members attended the event and 15 of them were tested positive for Covid-19.
“There were symptomatic individuals among the family members, hence the huge number of infections. Those individuals should not have made that interstate travel or should have complied with the SOP to avoid infection,” she said in a Facebook posting today.
The state health department recorded 22 new cases of Covid-19 today, bringing the total active cases in the state to 110.
Nor Azimi said the increase in cases due to interstate travel and family gatherings had happened before in Besut when several families from Kuantan, Pahang and Johor returned to visit a sick 100-year-old grandmother. Five of them ended up testing positive, including the grandmother who died soon after.
“There were also neighbours who tested positive for the disease after visiting the deceased’s family. So, please learn the lesson from these incidents. Avoid attending a mass gathering because we cannot be certain that no one is carrying the virus.
“Not that we are disallowing anyone to return to their hometown but they should take precautions and comply with the SOP. If they cannot comply, then prevention is better,” she added.
Live or Die, Sick or Well, it is all in the hands of Allah.
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