COTABATO CITY – A person under investigation (PUI) died at the Amai Pakpak Medical Center (APMC) in Marawi City on Tuesday as provincial authorities confirmed a total of seven PUIs and 90 persons under monitoring (PUMs) across Lanao del Sur.
The fatality was one of four PUIs admitted to the APMC and had a history of participation in the recent global ijtima in Malaysia of tabligh (Islamic preaching) members from different nations, according to a report attributed to Dr. Shalimar Rakiin, hospital administrator.
The male patient tested positive for coronavirus based on laboratory test from Manila’s Research Institute for Tropical Medicine obtained after his death on Tuesday morning, a report from provincial task for on COVID-19 spokesman Zia Alontio-Adiong said.
His remains were immediately buried under innovated Islamic tradition, which deems cremation haram or forbidden.
Details on the patient’s arrival in the Philippines and confinement at APMC were not clear.
The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) said earlier the ijtima was held at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling in Malaysia from Feb. 27 to Match 1, and had gathered 16,000 tabligh members from different countries.
In his updates published on Tuesday, Malaysian Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Adham Baba reportedly revealed the discovery of 125 new cases of COVID-19 that purportedly brought to 553 the total cases in Malaysia.
Minister Baba reportedly said that out of the 125 new cases, 95 were linked to the Malaysia-hosted ijtima, a periodic tabligh event meant to propagate the true essence of Islam as religion of peace and complete way of life.
NCMF spokesman Jun Alonto-Datu Ramos reported Tuesday that 215 Filipino tabligh members joined the ijtima, and government authorities were tracking their whereabouts in the country, including areas in the Bangsamoro region.
Marawi City and Lanao del Sur, both component areas of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), have been put on community quarantine since Tuesday under a joint circular from Mayor Majul Gandamra and Governor Bombit Alonto-Adiong. (Ali G. Macabalang)
