Daily Times

A group of senior doctors in Pakistan and abroad on Tuesday wrote a letter to the government, urging it to review its decision to allow congregational prayers to be held in mosques and limit the prayers to 3-5 persons as it had done previously in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

The letter has also been addressed to the ulema and business community, thanking the government for developing a consensus over the issue, and listed the medical community’s “strong reservations” over the decision to allow prayer congregations.

It has warned that with mosques across the country being filled by people over the age of 50, the risk of the virus spreading is high.

“With Ramazan approaching, we would understandably expect higher number of namazis attending the prayers. Moreover, long Taraweeh prayers and waiting times will lead to prolonged gatherings. It is all but certain that this will cause significant mayhem, as the mosques practising social distancing will only be able to accommodate 20-25 per cent of the regular namazis, which will further worsen the situation,” the letter read.

The letter has been signed by: Dr Abdul Bari Khan, Karachi, Dr Faisal Mahmood, Karachi, Dr Khurram Khan, London, Dr Shamvil Ashraf, Karachi, Dr Saad Niaz, Karachi, Dr Abdul Basit, Karachi, Dr Hanif Chatni, Karachi, Dr Muhammad Razi, Mirpurkhas, Dr Fareed Shah, Madina, Dr Zahid Jamal, Karachi, Dr Yahya Chawla, Karachi, Dr Mughees, Makkah, and Dr Raza Sayyed, Karachi.