MOSQUES across the country reopened yesterday to hold the Friday prayers at full capacity - for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, had directed to update Covid-19 rules regulating prayers at mosques and places of worship, while chairing the Government Executive Committee meeting earlier this week.
The easing of restrictions, announced by the National Taskforce to Combat the Coronavirus, aims to enable citizens and residents to perform their prayers smoothly.
People expressed their delight at lifting the mandatory social distancing at mosques and thanked the Crown Prince and Prime Minister for the decision.
“There were tears of joy as the Imam asked worshippers to ‘stand together in rows’. We have been used to hearing ‘maintain social distancing’ over the last two years,” a worshipper told our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej.
The Interior Ministry deployed teams to monitor the vaccination status of worshippers. Only masked vaccinated people and those who recovered from Covid-19 were allowed to enter.
People were also allowed to remain at mosques after the prayers to read the Quran while complying with the precautionary measures.
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