Mosques in Oman to reopen for socially distant daily prayers

Nov 11, 2020

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. 

Children under the age of 12 and adults over 65 will not be allowed entrance into the mosques, according to the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs said. In addition to wearing face masks and observing social distances, worshippers must bring their own prayer mats and sanitize their hands before entering and when leaving. 

The reopening of mosques comes as Oman’s daily coronavirus caseload is waning. The Health Ministry reported 302 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, down from 1,000 or more cases a day last month. The country’s total number of infections since February now stands at 119,186, with 1,321 deaths. 

In March, Oman ordered the closure of all mosques, as well as markets, restaurants and shopping malls. The government also locked its borders and suspended public transit.  

The sultanate began easing restrictions in late April, and later resumed international flights and intercity bus travel. After crossing the 100,000 case mark in early October, authorities in Oman imposed a two-week-long nighttime curfew last month to stave off an uptick in COVID-19 infections.