KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Health Ministry announced that 190 people had tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, the highest number of infections reported in a day in the country. Most of the cases are linked to a mass religious gathering held at a mosque on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur last month.
The new infections bring Malaysia’s total to 428, the highest number of reported coronavirus cases in Southeast Asia.
“Based on early investigation, most of the new cases are linked to the Tabligh gathering at Sri Petaling Mosque,” Health Minister Dr. Adham Baba said in a statement on Sunday.
It is estimated that 16,000 people arrived in Kuala Lumpur for the four-day religious event in late February, some of them from neighboring Singapore and Brunei.
Malaysian health authorities are trying to track down 14,500 nationals who attended the event.
The ministry has called on them and their close contacts to undergo virus testing and self-quarantine for 14 days.
On Thursday, the minister said that all mass gatherings should be avoided due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“Gatherings of more than 50 people are considered a mass gathering, so the public should avoid them,” he said.
A day later, however, more than 30,000 people participated in a Hindu event, the Floating Chariot Festival in Penang state.
Stricter measures have been imposed by Malaysia’s neighbors.
Brunei announced on Sunday that it is barring its citizens from traveling out of the country as the number of persons infected with the coronavirus has reached 50.
Most of the cases are related to the Kuala Lumpur Tabligh event. Authorities have also requested mass gatherings be avoided and events such as weddings be held at home with a limited number of guests.
Singapore has suspended Friday prayers and closed all mosques for disinfection. It has also tightened its border control measures.
All new visitors who had visited France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Iran, South Korea or mainland China within the last 14 days will not be allowed transit and entry into Singapore.
Surge in Malaysia, Brunei coronavirus cases linked to religious event
https://arab.news/83cbt
Surge in Malaysia, Brunei coronavirus cases linked to religious event
- Malaysia has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia
- Singapore bars entry for people with recent travel history to France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Iran, South Korea and China
US immigration agents’ training ‘broken’: whistleblower
- The fatal shooting of two American citizens in Minneapolis in January reignited accusations that agents enforcing Trump’s militarized immigration operation are inexperienced
WASHINGTON: A former US immigration official said Monday that training for federal agents was “deficient, defective and broken,” adding to pressure on President Donald Trump’s sweeping crackdown.
Ryan Schwank resigned this month from his job teaching law at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) training academy in Glynco, Georgia, after he said he was instructed to teach new recruits to violate the US Constitution.
The fatal shooting of two American citizens in Minneapolis in January reignited accusations that agents enforcing Trump’s militarized immigration operation are inexperienced, undertrained and operating outside law enforcement norms.
The administration scaled back the deployment after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in broad daylight by officers sparked mass protests and widespread outrage.
Schwank told a forum hosted by congressional Democrats on Monday that he “received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant.”
“Never in my career had I received such a blatantly unlawful order,” he said.
He said that ICE cut 240 hours from its 584-hour training program, curtailing subjects such as the US Constitution, lawful arrest, fire arms, the use of force and the limits of officers’ authority.
“The legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” he said.
As a consequence, poorly trained, inexperienced armed officers were being sent to places like Minneapolis “with minimal supervision,” he said.
The lawyer’s comments coincide with the release of dozens of pages of internal ICE documents by Senate Democrats that suggest the Trump administration cut corners on training, the New York Times reported.
Schwank said he resigned on February 13 after more than four years working for ICE, and that he felt duty-bound to report inadequacies with the new training program.
