Turkey's religious body allows Friday prayer substitute

ANKARA 

Instead of attending weekly collective mosque prayers, Muslims can pray at home, Turkey's highest religious body said on Friday amid heightened concerns that such events could speed up the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The supreme council of religious affairs announced that Muslim members of high-risk groups living in countries with a COVID-19 outbreak could perform their noon prayers at home instead of attending Friday prayers at a mosque, as is normally mandated.

In a written statement released by the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), the council cited the World Health Organization's (WHO) announcement that the virus had become