“There was no announcement on virus protection,” he said. “I would not have gone if I had known there was a virus there.”

The Tablighi conclave in multiethnic Malaysia took place as the country was locked in a political showdown between a reformist, multiracial bloc and a conservative faction looking to increase the power of Malay Muslims. By the final day of the Tablighi gathering, a new prime minister had been sworn in, backed by a coalition including an Islamic party that has campaigned to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state.

As Malaysian health officials tried to track the spread of the coronavirus through the region, others in the political establishment were preoccupied with the unfolding leadership crisis. Tablighi participants were getting sick, but members of the new Malaysian government focused on damage control.

“The likelihood of dying from the coronavirus is only 1 percent, while the possibility of dying at any moment is 100 percent,” wrote Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, the deputy minister for women and family development, on Twitter.

The health ministry initially said that 5,000 Malaysians had attended the Tablighi conference. Days later, the number was revised to about 14,500 Malaysians and 1,500 foreigners.

Among the devotees were hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, who had escaped persecution back home for lives as undocumented workers in Malaysia. Locating them is proving to be difficult.

With its viral caseload proliferating in the wake of the Tablighi gathering, Malaysia on Wednesday closed its borders to nearly all travelers until March 31. With rare exceptions, no Malaysians are allowed to leave the country and no foreigners are allowed to enter. Only essential businesses can stay open. Mosques are closed for Friday prayers.