Govt to review SOPs for mosques as COVID-19 raging in country

LAHORE: The authorities have decided to review the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of mosques in view of the soaring cases of coronavirus, citing sources ARY News reported on Thursday.

The President has summoned a video conference of four governors and religious leaders today to discuss new SOPs for mosques for protection from COVID-19, sources said.

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar will attend the video conference from Lahore along with 15 religious clerics.

Federal Minister for Interior Ijaz Ahmed Shah and Religious Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadri will also attend the conference, sources said.

Moreover, the presence of President Azad Kashmir and Governor Gilgit-Baltistan is also expected in the video session, according to sources.

Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar has said that the government will decide new SOPs for mosques after consultation with the religious leaders and it will take along religious class for decision over safety measures from the coronavirus.

“Each and every segment of society should take their responsibility for protection from the coronavirus,” he said.

The governor also advised opposition’s alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), to shun insistence for holding public meetings for the sake of protecting people from the virus disease.

It is to be mentioned here that the ratio of positive cases of COVID-19 consistently increasing in the country, in the second wave of the virus, and has  reach to 8.16 percent on Thursday (today).