KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — The organiser of the tabligh event which has contributed to five deaths from Covid-19 so far has disputed the total number of its attendees, claiming there were only around 12,500 instead of 16,000 as estimated by Putrajaya.

In a statement yesterday, the leadership of Markaz Dakwah dan Tabligh Malaysia said its number is based on its data division which did the calculation to handle logistics of the event, such as for food and accommodation of the attendees.

"The calculation of around 12,500 is not a new number, but it has been the routine of the Data Division for many years,” its council member Abdullah Cheong said.

"The total number of attendees that has been quoted by many was around 16,000 people This number did not come from our party.”

Abdullah said the official data of Seri Petaling Mosque on February 29 showed that the number included those who performed Maghrib prayer that evening, including foreign attendees and its crew members.

That was the highest number of the crowd it recorded, it said.

It also claimed that there were around 1,600 foreigners, tallying with the MOH’s estimate of 1,500 people.

Abdullah said "100 per cent” of them have returned home to their respective countries.

"Based on MOH’s report, as at March 19, around 10,500 attendees have undergone tests. This means only 500 local attendees have not been tested,” he said.

It also insisted that it has given its full cooperation to Putrajaya, and has directed all of the attendees to get tested, through its 28 branches.

Health authorities have continued pleading with attendees of the tabligh ijtimak event, held at the Jamek Sri Petaling mosque in Kuala Lumpur from February 27 to March 1, to seek testing for Covid-19.

It is believed that thousands of the attendees are refugees and undocumented migrants who are concerned they may be detained for immigration offences if they come forth.

The Health Ministry said earlier today that they will not disclose any patient information to third parties, in yet another attempt to convince the holdouts from the tabligh cluster to come forth for testing.

After the early success in containing the first wave of Covid-19 infections, Malaysia has experienced a sharp rise in cases, hundreds of which have been connected to the tabligh event.

Malaysia reported another 153 Covid-19 infections yesterday to bring the country’s total to 1,183.