Tajikistan asks Muslims to pray at home because of coronavirus

The government of mostly Muslim Tajikistan on Wednesday asked its citizens to avoid going to mosques for Friday prayers as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, though the Central Asian nation has not reported any cases so far.

A spokesman for the state committee on religious affairs wrote on Facebook that there was no outright ban on mosque attendance, but such a measure was on the table after several imams asked for it.

The nation of 9 million people bordering China and Afghanistan has shut its border to citizens from both neighbours as well as South Korea, Iran and Italy.