Mosques in Oman to reopen for socially distant daily prayers
Amid a declining COVID-19 infection rate, mosques will reopen to a limited number of worshippers beginning Sunday; Friday prayers still will not be allowed.
Mosques across Oman will reopen for public prayers beginning Sunday, eight months after the Gulf Arab state forced their closure in an effort to combat the coronavirus.
“We came to the decision to allow mosques to open for the five daily prayers as infection cases have dropped by nearly 80% over the past 30 days,” the country's COVID-19 Supreme Committee said Wednesday.
Under new rules, mosques can open their doors for 25 minutes for each of the five daily prayers. Friday prayers are still barred until further notice, the committee said.
Only large mosques, specifically those with a capacity of 400 or more worshippers, can resume services. The 3,000 mosques included in the first phase of reopening represent about a third of the total number countrywide.
