2 more Covid-19 cases linked to religious gathering at M'sia mosque confirmed

They are cases 197 and 199.

Guan Zhen Tan| March 13, 2020, 09:14 PM

The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced 13 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Singapore on Mar. 13, 2020.

This brings Singapore's total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases to 200.

97 cases have been discharged so far.

Of the 13 new cases confirmed today, two of them attended a mass religious gathering at a Malaysian mosque.

Two more confirmed cases attended mosque gathering in Malaysia

This brings the total number of local cases linked to the gathering in Selangor to four.

The third case is Case 197, a 30-year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in Malaysia from Feb. 28 to Mar. 2.

He was confirmed to be infected with Covid-19 on the morning of Mar. 13, and is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre of Infectious Diseases (NCID)

Case 199, a 37-year-old male Singapore Citizen, had also attended the same event.

He had been in Malaysia from  Feb. 26 to Mar. 2.

He was confirmed to be infected with Covid-19 on the morning of Mar. 13, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Both attended the mass religious gathering at a mosque in Malaysia, said MOH.

Previously announced case had visited several mosques

MOH also announced that Case 183, who is also one of the cases linked to the religious gathering in Malaysia had gone to work at Masjid Al-Muttaqin, and visited three other mosques, including  Masjid Al-Iman, Masjid Kassim, Masjid Hajjah Fatimah.

He had also gone to the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association (PERGAS).

Previously, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs Amrin Amin uploaded a Facebook post on Mar. 12 at 5pm, urging 95 Singaporeans who attended the event to present themselves at clinics for health checks.

At around 7:45 pm on the same day, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) announced a total closure of all mosques in Singapore to assist the Covid-19 containment efforts.

MUIS also announced that the Fatwa Committee had issued a fatwa, a ruling on a point of Islamic law, to close the mosques and suspend the Friday congregational prayer on Mar. 13, 2020.

Top image from M Khairi Al Jawhari/FB via Amrin Amin.