Pakistan: Tablighi Jamaat's Faisalabad head dies of coronavirus; over 1,100 infected in Punjab

The Faisalabad head of Tablighi Jamaat has died of coronavirus as Friday witnessed the number of infected members from the group surpassed 1,100-mark in Pakistan's Punjab province. 

Maulana Suhaib Rumi, 69, was the Faisalabad chapter head of the religious group and had attended the Tablighi congregation in Lahore's Raiwaind last month. 

Also read | Pakistan reports 520 new coronavirus cases, 17 deaths in 24 hours

Five members of his family, including two grandchildren, are also infected with COVID-19, Deputy Commissioner of Faisalabad Muhammad Ali said.

Also read | Are number of coronavirus deaths in Pakistan being under-reported?

Also, over 1,100 Tablighi Jamaat members have been tested positive for COVID-19 in Punjab, the province's health department said. 

A large number of people participated in a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in early March in Raiwind, Lahore which led to a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country. 

The government says that it advised that the event might lead to a spread in the virus cases, but still the group went ahead with it. 

the Tablighi Jamaat congregations have led to an alarming rise in coronavirus cases, not just in Pakistan, but in India, Malaysia and Brunei too.