71 mosques closed in Saudi Arabia over SOPs violations

RIYADH: The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance has closed 71 mosques in various regions of the Kingdom after recording cases of coronavirus infections inside the mosques.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Abdul Latif Al-Sheikh attributed the closure of mosques to the lack of compliance to health precautions and preventive protocols by some of the worshipers. “This non-compliance resulted in the infection of the coronavirus in some mosques. The mosques that were closed as a precautionary measure are currently being sterilised,” he added, reported foreign media.

The shutdown of such a number of mosques is the first since Saudi Arabia reopened on Sunday, (May 31), over 900,000 mosques across the kingdom, except in Makkah, in line with its plan to gradually return to normal life.

Meanwhile, the Uniform Communication Service Center (No. 1933) at the ministry had received 2,649 phone calls regarding requests, communications and suggestions for the precautionary procedures of the coronavirus pandemic during the period between May 24 and June 7 (Shawwal 8-15).

The center has issued as many as 1553 notifications, which were referred to the ministry’s branches in all regions of the Kingdom for processing. It had also received 2101 inquiries for which answers were given after carrying out the necessary procedures. The team at the center works to follow up on the completion of processing these incoming communications with the competent authorities in the ministry.

The ministry’s issuance of the report about the work of the center and its handling of communications during this period coincided with the reopening of mosques for congregational prayers. The center has given answers to 1529 inquiries related to mosques that included aberrations in implementing precautionary measures and clarifications about the services of employees and worshipers, as well as about maintenance and affairs of donors.