Pres. Rouhani: Mosques, religious places to reopen in white zones

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Dr Rouhani stated that as approved by the National Task Force for Fighting Coronavirus, the country will be divided into three zones of white, yellow and red based on the spread of coronavirus, and the protocols by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education to implement the restrictions and regulations for fighting coronavirus.

Speaking on Sunday at the session of the National Task Force for Fighting Coronavirus, President Hassan Rouhani said, "Until the time a region remains white, which is over 100 counties the names of which will be announced, new conditions will be set in them, including those that have been discussed in this session, and the religious places will be reopened and congregational prayers will be held”.

President Hassan Rouhani’s speech is as follows:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

The holy month of Ramadan is the month of love and helping others. Fortunately, all the efforts have been made by the people, donors and the armed forces; we must all help not to let anybody’s table remain without iftar.

Another point I want to emphasise is the restrictions of communities and social distancing or smart social distancing that we continue to emphasise. We do not want the reopening of businesses to imply that coronavirus is gone.

We cannot tell when coronavirus finishes. In fact, it would be great if we could, and if our health officials could tell us it would definitely be gone by a couple of months.

The only way to overcome COVID-19 is to mind our distance and health protocols and take care of ourselves and observe the protocols put forward by the health sector.

Fortunately, until now, the overwhelming majority of people have observed the health protocols based on the figures we receive every night and compare them to the previous.

Of course, our doctors and health defenders are working very hard and their experience is increasing day by day, and as reported in this meeting, many hospital beds and ventilators have been added.

Today, we made a new decisions regarding fighting coronavirus and day by day, the Ministry of Health and our committees are offering new solutions.

The new decision is that the country will be divided into different zones, not based on province, east and west, north and south, but based on the spread of coronavirus.

We divide the country on the basis of white, yellow and red, and it says that some cities are white, and if the people observe the protocols, God willing, they will remain white until the end.

But if this is not the case, white zones may turn yellow or even red. As long as they remain white, there will be new conditions and we discussed these new conditions in this meeting on religious places and congregational prayers.

In white zones that the Ministry of Health announces, which are now 127 cities more or less; mosques and religious places can reopen and congregational prayers can be held by observing health protocols.

Of course, we discussed metro and busses in today’s meeting. Normally, in the rush hours, the distance cannot be observed and therefore, we had to emphasise that using masks and gloves is mandatory, the details of which will be announced by the Ministry of Interior.

The other point was that in the previous decision, we announced that shopping centres must close at 18:00, but in hotter areas, these shopping centres open at 4pm, therefore, the governor generals of these places were authorised to push the closure time until 20:00.

There are some other points that need to be discussed, including electronic activities, which we will talk about in the next session after they are closely looked into.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings

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