Pakistan has lifted bans on congregational prayers at mosques ahead of Ramadan, prompting alarm from some health experts who are worried about the spread of Covid-19.
The government bowed to calls from influential clerics and religious parties to relax the country’s pandemic precautions, which include a limit of three to five people visiting mosques at any time.
The decision, after meetings between President Arif Alvi and religious leaders, came less than a week before the start of the Ramadan, when attendance at mosques increases.
Government officials and religious leaders agreed to allow communal prayers if mosques signed up to 20 precautions to stop the coronavirus sweeping through their congregations.
The decision was described as a dangerous precedent at odds with many other Muslim nations where mosques were closed.
Dr Mishal Khan, an associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said she was “very concerned” about the decision.
“As a policy analyst I’m well aware that religious leaders are powerful and the government would have had little choice,” Dr Khan said.
“But giving the impression to the public that congregations can be safe is dangerous.”
Pakistan’s case figures have so far defied predictions of a heavy toll from the virus.
By Sunday, a total of 7,993 cases and 159 deaths had been recorded among the 220 million population.
Global Table of Countries’ confirmed cases, deaths and recoveries
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