As the second wave of coronavirus pandemic continues to surge in the country, President Dr Arif Alvi has issued a declaration for the revival of the already-agreed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for collective prayers in mosques and imambargahs, it was learnt yesterday.
The coronavirus causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.
The joint declaration was issued after a meeting with more than 86 clerics from the four mainstream schools of thought in the country – Barelvi, Shia, Deobandi and Ahle Hadis – who belong to all the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The meeting called upon the federal and provincial governments and the country’s political parties to adopt precautionary measures in view of the growing danger of coronavirus.
December 4 (yesterday) was declared a day of prayer and awareness about coronavirus among the masses, with sermons and special prayers seeking forgiveness and protection from the coronavirus.
The meeting, arranged by the ministry of religious affairs, asked religious scholars and prayer leaders to play their role effectively, as they did in the first wave of coronavirus, in preventing mass infections during the winter season.
The meeting decided that the already-agreed 20-point SOPs would be preferably implemented at all gatherings, including collective prayers.
The declaration issued by President Alvi after the meeting said that large gatherings should be avoided in functions at madrassas and shrines, Tableeghi congregations, Urs, Milad, Majalis, etc.
The declaration asked religious leaders to forward the message through mosques, madrassas, shrines and imambargahs to the people, to abide by all precautionary and preventative measures regarding Covid-19.
The declaration called upon the clerics to hold awareness sessions across the country; however, such forums have to be conducted under the supervision of the relevant officers of district administration, while observing the precautionary measures.
Pakistan recorded 55 deaths due to the coronavirus, and 3,262 new cases in the last 24 hours, local media reported yesterday.
The total death toll due to the disease has reached 8,260.
As per details, 3,262 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours, with 3,354 recoveries.
Of the new cases, 2,395 are in critical condition.
The total number of infections in the country currently stands at 410,072.
So far 350,305 people have recovered from the deadly disease.
A total of 5,672,166 samples have been tested thus far.
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has stated that cases in the five major cities of the country – Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Hyderabad and Peshawar – make up 70% of the countries caseload.
Muslims offer weekly Friday prayers at a mosque in Islamabad yesterday. The government has announced a ‘Day of Prayer’ for the coronavirus pandemic.
