MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN
COLOMBO : The ministry of health has issued a revised set of health guidelines during the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims and their worshipping places throughout the island.
According to the new guidelines, porridge or food items cannot be served inside the mosques, ushers should wear personal protective equipment, congregations limited to 100 worshippers and they should be adults over 18 and it will be held under the direct supervision of the public health inspectors.
The director-general of health services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena has said that the guidelines are meant for the worshippers and the mosque management to adhere to them strictly due to the pandemic threat.
During the Ramazan season only adults (the persons of 18 year.Provide enough space on the sides of the prayer hall of the mosque to allow the worshipers to leave starting from one end of a row up to the exit, without the need to pass between other worshipers.
- Staff wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (Face mask, coverall, headcap and gloves) should be allocated for crowd management and to ensure the adherence to preventive measures of COVID-19 by all the persons attending the mosque.
- Staff wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment should monitor the temperature of worshipers and others entering into mosque.
10.All persons should wear a clean face mask covering nose and mouth throughout (no removing or improper wearing of face mask). Face mask should be worn securely and properly and should not be touched thereafter without cleaning the hands properly.
- Facilities should be available to wash hands with soap and water at the entrance.
12.Every worshiper should enter the mosque after cleaning their hands properly.
13.Hand sanitizers should be kept inside the mosque/ prayer halls at different places for worshipers to use.
- Persons should avoid handshake or any other forms of physical contact.
15.Should not touch the face (eyes, nose, or mouth) without cleaning the hands.
16.All persons attending mosque should practice respiratory etiquettes (cover the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, use tissues and dispose all used tissues promptly into a waste bin, wash the hands or use a hand sanitizer every time you touch your mouth or nose).
17.Avoid sharing the mobile phones/ pens/ other personal belongings etc.
18.Sanitize the hands before and after the use of the Qur’an or any other publications in mosques.
19.Should not distribute “Kanjee” in the mosques.
20.Should not have any kind of food or drink inside/outside of the mosque for worshipers and others.
- Should not perform ablution/wudu (a purification ritual, requiring that the prayers to wash their faces, hands, arms, and feet) at the mosque. Do this at home. If need to perform ablution should be done by getting a water source through a tap and not by the common water tank (Hawl).
22.Stay at home if having symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, shortness of breath etc.
23.Ensure good ventilation in the mosque.
It is important to provide no-touch waste bins (pedal type) and the waste must be disposed of continuously.
- Washrooms should have a proper water supply and soap/ liquid soap should be available to clean hands. To maintain the cleanliness of wash rooms, a worker should be allocated to clean the wash rooms.
- Worshipers or staff should not attend for prayers if under quarantine
27.Maintain regular housekeeping practices, including routine wiping/cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces and equipment (All metal surfaces shall be disinfected with minimum of 70% v/v alcohol solution. All non-metal surfaces be disinfected with 0.1% sodium hypochlorite solution).
28.After each session/ completion of praying, wet mopping or washing the floors with soap and water or 0.1 % sodium hypochlorite solution or a general-purpose detergent.
- Should not loiter in and around the mosque premises before or after the prayers.
- Area Medical Officer of Health should monitor and supervise the activities through area Public Health Inspector.
