The federal government has announced that nation will observe Youm-e-Toba and Youm-e-Rehmat on next Friday amid the deadly coronavirus that has killed the 181 people so far in the country.

Minister for Religious Affairs Noor-ul-Haq Qadri said the religious scholars asked nation to observe Youm-e-Tauba and Youm-e-Rehmat on coming Friday to seek forgiveness from Allah against the deadly respiratory coronavirus outbreak.

He was addressing media after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting with religious clerics in Islamabad. The religious minister said that ulemas have assured full support and cooperation in government’s campaign against coronavirus.

Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan said it has been decided that mosques will remain open countrywide while prayers will be offered as per the SOPs. “PM Imran Khan has also directed to release all clerics, worshippers who were arrested for violating restrictions on mosques,” she said.

SAPM on health Zafar Mirza said it was important to ensure that mosques in the country do not become coronavirus hotspots. He said in a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan today, a group of ulema endorsed the government's strategy and said that they will follow the social distancing measures outlined by President Arif Alvi.

According to Mirza, the prime minister has said that whatever decisions are taken regarding mosques, prayers in Ramazan, etc. "will be finalised only after consulting respected ulema".

Mirza said although the coronavirus crisis will eventually decline, "we have to learn lessons from its outbreak". "In the future, we should invest in our public health sectors so that we can deal with such outbreaks more efficiently," he told a press conference.

As per the covid-19.pk portal, so far 8676 people are infected with virus, 981 people have been recovered. On Monday, the most number of cases has been reported from Sindh, 230 that is the biggest jump in tally for the province.