Tajikistan asks Muslims to pray at home to stop coronavirus spread

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.