KUALA LUMPUR: Participation in congregational prayers such as the 'solat Jumaat' will only be limited to Malaysians for now.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government has not allowed foreigners to participate yet as the number of Covid-19 cases among the group was still being recorded.
"The Jumaat prayers and congregational prayers are allowed only for locals for now as records show that positive Covid-19 cases involving foreigners is higher than Malaysians," he told a press conference today.
The government had on Saturday announced that it would be relaxing the conditions for congregational prayers by possibly allowing more people to participate subject to the size and area of the mosques, specifically in the Federal Territories.
Approval would be granted if the mosques comply with the standard operating procedures especially on social distancing methods. The official approval on the issue would be subject to the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Since the Movement Control Order was first implemented in March, the government had suspended all congregational prayers such as Friday prayers including the Hari Raya Aidilfitri prayers in order to further curb the transmission of the Covid-19 virus.