Jakarta (ANTARA) – The High Priest of the Istiqlal Mosque KH Prof. Nasaruddin Umar appealed to Muslims, especially those in the COVID-19 contagion area, to temporarily not perform congregational activities to avoid transmission of the SARS-Cov-2 type corona virus.

“In areas where there are so many problems, the virus is developing, so it is sufficient reason according to the basis of the Ulema Council not to hold meetings in congregation, including Friday prayers, dawn, midday, asr, sunset, and evening, “said Nasaruddin in a joint press conference with the COVID-19 Handling Task Force at Graha BNPB, Jakarta, Friday.

To residents who want to continue establishing Friday Prayers because their area is considered safe from COVID-19, Nasaruddin appealed to them to take steps to prevent transmission of the disease, including keeping a safe distance with others.

“Keep the distance of one person from another person about two meters. We, the Istiqlal Mosque, do that,” he said.

“We are strongly convinced to prevent something that is harmful,” he added.

The manager of the Istiqlal Mosque will abolish Friday Prayers for the next two weeks following the appeal of DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to mosque administrators in Jakarta to postpone congregational prayers and other joint worship activities to prevent transmission of COVID-19.

President Joko Widodo previously stressed the importance of community compliance in keeping distance from each other and avoiding crowds in order to prevent transmission of the corona virus that causes respiratory diseases.

“First, our priority is to prevent the spread of COVID-19 wider. Therefore it is important to do, which is to reduce the mobility of people from one place to another. We continue to intensify socialization to keep distance or social distancing and reduce the crowd that carries the risk of spreading COVID-19, “he said.

Official Media of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling Covid-19