How Coronavirus Badly Affected Religious Rituals Worldwide

Many Arab, Islamic and foreign countries have put some restrictions on religious rituals over fears about the viral outbreak of China-originated coronavirus.

Since it emerged in December in central China, 82,000 people globally contracted the new deadly virus, with more than 2,700 deaths.

Here are some examples of countries that were forced to impose restrictions on religious rituals:

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has imposed a temporary ban on Umrah pilgrims in an attempt to ensure public safety by preventing the outbreak of the virus.

The Kingdom also decided to halt the visit of Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah by foreign pilgrims before or after the completion of their religious duties in Mecca.

Such a step comes within the framework of precautionary restrictions  as health authorities in the Kingdom closely monitor the spread of the virus. Tourist-visa holders from countries judged to pose a particularly high risk of spreading the virus will also be denied entry.

Iran

Iran has also suspended Friday Prayers nationwide the Islamic country over virus fears, especially after it is reported that the death toll of the coronavirus reached 22, while reporting that confirmed cases are more than 144.

Iran had the second highest number of fatalities from the virus after China, where the outbreak first emerged in December.

Some Iranians accuse their government of covering up the real numbers of infected cases, especially that it admitted to falsely denying responsibility for the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet last month.

Iranian officials have denied the charge. In comments reported Wednesday by state TV, President Hassan Rouhani accused the U.S., a longtime enemy, of trying to spread fear among Iranians.

In Bahrain, which confirmed 33 cases as of Thursday morning, authorities halted all flights to Iraq and Lebanon. It separately extended a 48-hour ban over flights from Dubai and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, through which infected travelers reached the island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said there were no immediate plans to quarantine cities but acknowledged it may take ``one, two or three weeks'' to get control of the virus in Iran.

As Iran's 80 million people find themselves increasingly isolated in the region by the outbreak, the country's sanctions-battered economy saw its currency slump to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in a year on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Iraq's Health Ministry on Thursday announced the first coronavirus case in the capital, Baghdad, bringing the overall number of cases reported in the country to six. All have been linked to Iran.