...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...outbreak.
The letter, the veracity of which was confirmed to Dawn.com by Indus Hospital CEO Dr Abdul Bari Khan, was also addressed to the Learned Elders of Islam and business community. While thanking the government and Learned Elders of Islam for developing a consensus over the issue, the letter listed the medical community's "strong reservations" over the decision to allow prayer congregations.
On Saturday, President Dr Arif Alvi had announced that neither the state machinery nor holy mans would stop citizens from visiting mosques as the government accepted almost all demands of the holy mans related to the holding of Friday, Taraweeh and daily congregational prayers with the condition of social distancing and other precautionary measures.
But the letter written by the doctors warned that with mosques across the country being filled predominantly by people over the age of 50, the risk of the virus spreading is high. It said videos that surfaced in the past 48 hours had shown that more than 80 per cent of the people attending prayers in mosques were mostly in their 60s and 70s.
"Clearly this has resulted in the violation of the first and foremost principle of preventing the spread of the virus in the most vulnerable group" of elderly people, stated the letter, which has been endorsed by the Pakistain Islamic Medical Association (PIMA).
"With Ramazan approaching, we would understandably expect higher number of namazis (worshippers) attending the prayers. Moreover, long Taraweeh prayers and waiting times will lead to prolonged gatherings. It is all but certain that this will cause significant mayhem, as the mosques practising social distancing will only be able to accommodate 20-25pc of the regular namazis, which will further worsen the situation," it added.