Prayers outside Makkah's Grand Mosque, Prophet's Mosque suspended amid coronavirus threat

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Saudi Arabia on Thursday suspended their five daily prayers and the weekly Friday prayer outside the walls of the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah in a bid to curd the spreading of the novel coronavirus. The decision comes as the precautionary measure by the authority to fight against the COVID-19 virus which has claimed more than 10,000 lives so far.

According to Saudi Press Agency, the spokesperson for the General Presidency for the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, Hani bin Hosni Haider, said, "The Presidency and the security and health authorities decided to suspend the presence and prayers in the outer squares of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque starting tomorrow, Friday, as part of precautionary and preventive measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus."

The spokesperson emphasized that the suspension of prayers in the outer squares of the Grand Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) and the Prophet’s Mosque (Masjid al-Nabawi) is to preserve the health and safety of the pilgrims.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia had suspended congregational prayers in various mosques in the country, except Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Nabawi. But with the recent decision, all the mosques in the country have been closed to avoid public gatherings during Namaz.

So far, the country reported around 274 infected cases of COVID-19. However, no patient has died yet.

Till now, over 2,50,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide with more than 10,000 fatalities.

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