Places of worship to remain closed till July 31

Kanpur: All places of worship in the city will remain closed till July 31, 2020 under Unlock 2.0, keeping in mind the rise in Covid cases, said district magistrate Dr Brahmadeo Ram Tiwari on Thursday, adding that the decision was taken unanimously.
District magistrate Dr Tiwari held a meeting with around two dozen religious leaders and preachers at the collectorate auditorium on Thursday. All the people attending the meeting expressed grave concern over the increasing number of Covid patients in the city.
“They all said the increasing number of infected persons was a matter of grave concern and agreed to keep all the religious places close till July 31,” the DM said.
“All the religious leaders were in favour of closure and appealed to the followers of their respective religions to pray at home,” he told reporters after the meeting.
The leaders agreed that the situation was becoming grim day-by-day and just one infected person at a religious place could spread the virus to many devotees and the situation could become uncontrollable.
“So far, we have been offering our prayers from home and we should continue this till the situation becomes normal,” they said.
“We will work with administration in the interest of people and if closure of religious places prevents gatherings and thereby plays a role in stopping the spread of the virus then all of us are ready for it,” they added.
The leaders praised the teams of doctors, para medical staff and district administration for doing a commendable job and working without fear for controlling the situation.
A Muslim cleric said that he had discussed the situation with senior doctors who said it would be difficult to implement social distancing in religious places and the circumstances at present are not conducive for opening them.
The doctors said that the situation in Kanpur was much better in comparison to other cities like Mumbai and Delhi and every effort should be made to curb virus spread, he added.