Good to read that the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments (GAIAE) has updated protocol that include opening prayer areas, places of ablution and women’s prayer areas (“Revised guidelines as women return to mosques in the UAE,” Gulf Today, Nov.10).

So now the UAE government announced the protocol for the resumption of prayers in mosques and adjacent areas.  Workers in mosques and prayer areas have been directed to print guideline flyers about the precautionary measures in Arabic, English and Urdu.

According to Dr Saif Al Dhaheri, the official spokesman for the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA), that the UAE is on the right track towards recovery, thanks to the great efforts made by all government and private institutions, as the approach adopted by the UAE government aims at securing safe life and a secure future for all.

As he said “the protocol also stipulates the necessity of cleaning and sanitising toilets and ablution areas before every prayer, along with respecting a 1.5-metre physical distancing between worshippers.”

Some 89 per cent of the UAE population had received two doses of the vaccine and up to 21.3 million does had been distributed so far, according to the index. The UAE was able to reach this advanced rank regionally and globally, thanks to the decisive and rapid measures it had taken since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Sameen Fatima
By email