Kazakhs return to mosques

Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan: Residents of Kazakhstan´s capital Nur-Sultan trickled back into mosques and restaurants Monday as the government loosened a coronavirus lockdown that it put in place almost two months ago. Mosques and other religious buildings were working again across the majority-Muslim country, although visitor numbers were restricted to 30 percent of capacity and there are currently no plans to restart popular Friday prayers. The chief cleric at the Nur-Astana mosque in the Kazakh capital, Nurlan Ramazanov, told AFP that visitors can only spend 15 minutes at a time in the mosque and that masks are mandatory. People who are praying must do so at a distance of at least 1.5 metres (five feet), Ramazanov added, as dozens gathered inside the building at lunchtime.