Turkey Suspends Mass Prayers in Mosques Due to Coronavirus

Turkish authorities decided on Monday to suspend mass prayers in mosques until the risk of coronavirus outbreak passes.

In statements to reporters, the head of Turkey's religious directorate, Ali Erbas said that the mosques would only be opened for the inpidual prayers.

On his part, Minister of Health in Turkey said that the number of infected coronavirus cases rose to 18 across the country.

On March 13, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Europe as the world's COVID-19 pandemic epicentre, as cases in Italy and other nations on the continent soared.

Earlier today, the Ministry of Health in Spain announced that 1000 infected coronavirus cases were recorded in the last 24 hours across the country.

On Wednesday, March 11, WHO declared that the coronavirus, which is spreading around the world, a “global pandemic; However it announced the novel COVID-19 is still “controllable”.

According to the organization, the number of the COVID-19 infections outside China has doubled in the past two weeks, and the number of countries hit by the epidemic has tripled.

“We are very concerned to achieve the alarming levels of the outbreak and its severity, as well as the alarming levels of inaction,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva.

“Now, COVID-19 can be categorized as a pandemic… we have never seen a pandemic spread due to the coronavirus,” Adhanom added.