In pictures: World gets ready for Ramadan

A woman wearing a protective face mask amid concerns over the COVID-19 buys traditional Ramadan lanterns, called "fanous" at a stall, ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt. This year, authorities have imposed a night curfew and banned communal prayers and other activities, dampening the festivities before they begin.

A Palestinian vendor wearing a protective mask displays Ramadan lanterns for sale outside his shop in Gaza City. Mosques in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been closed since the outbreak of the virus last month.

A daily-wage worker, center, receives a sack of free wheat donated by Afghan businessmen ahead of the upcoming holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Customers queue to pay for groceries at a supermarket during a nationwide curfew to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the Saudi capital Riyadh, ahead of Ramadan. From cancelled iftar feasts to suspended mosque prayers, Muslims across the Middle East are bracing for a bleak month of Ramadan fasting as the pandemic lingers.

A Yemeni vendor waits for costumers in the old city market of the capital Sanaa ahead of the holy month of Ramadan. Yemen recently reported its first case of the coronavirus in a southern province under the control of the government.

Muslim devotees wash the floor of the Jamia Mosque ahead of the Ramadan during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 in Rawalpindi ahead of Ramadan.

Women wearing protective face masks, carry traditional Ramadan lanterns, called "Fanous", ahead of holy month of Ramadan in front of Bab Zuweila, one of the surviving main gates of the old city of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Egypt.

People attend evening prayers while maintaining a level of social distancing to help avoid the spread of coronavirus, at a mosque in Karachi, Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan's government bowed to demands by religious leaders and agreed to keep mosques open during the month of Ramadan.

Volunteers fill up carton boxes with food items to be distributed to needy Palestinian families, ahead of the Ramadan fasting month, in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

A man walks in front of closed shops and decorations for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which also know for Egyptians as "zeinat Ramadan" during the night-time curfew to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Toukh, Al Qalyubia Governorate, north of Cairo, Egypt.