Faizel Patel – 18/08/2020
While many Muslims are anxious to return to the masjid in larger congregations, Professor of vaccinology at Wits University Shabir Madhi says the increase in gatherings depends on what happens to the COVID-19 virus in the coming months.
Professor Madhi was speaking to Radio Islam on Tuesday on the broader issues surrounding the Coronavirus and how it affects the normality of everyday life.
On Saturday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that while family visits will be allowed only if necessary under alert level 2, no gatherings of more than 50 people will be permitted at funerals including religious events.
Professor Madhi says the increase in the number of people allowed and places of worship and at funerals will be determined by the number COVID-19 infections, a message echoed by Ramaphosa in his weekly newsletter saying, “It’s too soon to celebrate.”
He says there is a high possibility that we will get a second outbreak especially when people become less compliant with non-pharmaceutical interventions.
“If we are wanting to go down to level 1, right now is not the time to become too complacent. But in a masjid, I would strongly suggest that people still adhere to the physical distancing, don’t socialize.”
Professor Madhi says the number of people allowed in masaajid, is a function of the size of the place of worship.
“If you’ve got a mosque of 50 square metres, fitting fifty people into that sort of a facility is lending yourself to people getting infected very quickly. But if you’ve got a mosque that’s 200 or 500 square metres, than you don’t need fifty people, you can allow for more people, but you still need to keep that distancing between people of at least a metre.”
Professor Madhi also touched on concerns about the funding received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for COVID-19 vaccine trials in South Africa.
Listen to the interview with Professor Shabir Madhi
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