Some mosques in Belgium reopen with limitations
Muslims pray amid social distancing markers at the Grand Mosque, after weeks of lockdown restrictions following the coronavirus outbreak, Brussels, Belgium, June 8, 2020. (Reuters Photo)


With the Belgium government’s decision to ease coronavirus restrictions as part of normalization, some mosques in the country started to allow prayers with precautionary measures.

Many restaurants, cafes and gyms also reopened after almost three months of lockdown.

Muslims attended a communal prayer at the Hijrah mosque Monday in Brussels for the first time in months. Muslims must bring their own prayer rugs and perform wudu – the ritual ablution before prayer – at their homes, as mosque washrooms designed for this will remain closed. They also observed 1.5-meter (4.9-foot) physical distancing during prayer.

The number of coronavirus infections globally topped 7 million on Monday, with some two-thirds in Europe and the U.S., while fatalities recorded in Latin American countries continue to rise.