"Avoid shaking hands", disposable towels in places of ablutions: the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM) asked Sunday imams and mosque officials to take measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
In an "urgent message" to the heads of places of worship, the president of the CFCM, Mohammed Moussaoui, recalls "some simple but useful advice" , among which "avoid shaking hands and favor oral and distance greetings" . He also recommends "frequently" washing his hands, as well as "removing multiple-use towels from mosque ablutions" to "replace them with single-use towels" . Similar preventive measures have been taken in the dioceses, the archbishops urging in particular to "empty the holy water fonts" in the churches.
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The intensification of the coronavirus, with 100 cases confirmed since the end of January, led the authorities to cancel "all the gatherings of more than 5000 people in confined areas". "Collective prayers in mosques must be considered as collective gatherings to which the instructions of the health authorities of our country must apply", explains the president of CFCM.
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