Madinah: The Prophet's Mosque reopened on Sunday after 70 days of closure to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
The reopening of the mosque is among the measures taken by Saudi Arabia to ease restrictions imposed as part of the massive fight undertaken by the country against the highly contagious and deadly virus.
On Saturday, Saudia TV said that group prayers would be performed starting from Fajr (Dawn) prayers on Sunday, but with a 40 per cent capacity.
The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques said that new Covid-19 safety guidelines to worshippers for praying in mosques included wearing face masks, practicing social distancing and bringing their own prayer mats.
Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday a phased plan to ease coronavirus restrictions and eventually restore “normal” conditions.
The first phase, launched on Thursday, shortened curfew and allowed some economic activities to resume operations.
The second phase, starting on Sunday, includes reducing curfew hours and allowing Friday prayers and all daily group prayers in all mosques across the kingdom, except in Makkah.
However, Health Minister Dr Tawfiq Al Rabiah told Al Arabiya TV on Saturday that while Saudi Arabia did not plan to return to lockdowns and new restrictions, the sanction-lifting approach would depend largely on people's compliance with the precautionary measures.
“Public awareness and adherence to precautionary measures are essential to continue the ease of restrictions,” he said, quoted by local media.
“We continue monitoring the situation based on the number of critical cases in hospitals and their capacity to receive them. We want to be able to receive all cases that reach out to us and provide them with the care that they need. We are all in one boat in this situation, we are one team, and we must work together cautiously. Lack of commitment will definitely take us back to where we were.”