Bahrain: Religious ceremonies go online due to COVID-19
The move comes days after temporary closure of mosques as coronavirus cases rise
Cairo: Bahrain’s Jaffariya Awqaf (endowments) directorate has said that religious ceremonies, scheduled for the new Islamic month of Rajab, will be held live online due to an increase in the COVID-19 cases.
The directorate added in a statement that the step aims at protecting health of the attendees, mainly the old people, from potential infections.
Regulations for the ceremonies set by the directorate include limiting attendance to the transmission and administrative crews to a maximum of five people at one time. No old people or sufferers of chronic diseases must be among those five who must abide by the anti-virus precautions, the directorate said.
“Everyone must follow all instructions and official directives to overcome this exceptional situation,” it added.
On Thursday, Bahrain closed mosques for two weeks to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Decision to close
The Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf said that mosque prayers and all religious activities there will be halted during this duration.
The decision to close the mosques was taken upon recommendations of the national taskforce tackling COVID-19 and in coordination with the Sunni and Jaffariya endowments departments, the ministry said.
Bahrain so far has recorded a total of 111,312 virus cases and 395 related deaths.
In August, the Gulf country allowed the gradual reopening of mosques after around five months of closure due to the COVID-19 outbreak.