Religious Group’s Mass Gatherings Across Asia Spark Virus Clusters
- Over 27% of Pakistan’s 8,400 cases traced to event near Lahore
- Faith-based groups linked to virus hotspots around the world
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A conservative religious group’s gatherings have emerged as coronavirus hotspots in Malaysia, India and now Pakistan, with authorities tracking people who attended an event with as many as 70,000 worshipers that’s responsible for more than a quarter of all cases in the South Asian nation.
The Sunni Muslim missionary group, Tabligh-e-Jamaat, hosted the event in the town of Raiwind in Lahore in mid-March. More than 2,258 people who attended have been tested positive so far, according to government data. The South Asian nation has about 8,418 confirmed cases and 176 deaths.