Egypt's mosques reopen for Friday prayers after five month suspension

Egypt's mosques on Friday reopened for the weekly congregation prayers, ending a five-month suspension prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Worshippers attended weekly prayers inside mosques in the mostly-Muslim country while observing strict health measures.

The faithful wore protective face masks and used personal rugs while maintaining social distancing.

The resumption of Friday prayers comes after Egypt has loosened virus-induced restrictions in recent weeks.

The government allowed daily prayers to begin again in mosques from June, but the larger Friday prayers remained suspended until now.

Authorities instructed mosque preachers that their pre-prayer sermons should be capped at a maximum lenghth of 10 minutes.

In a televised sermon, Minister of Awqaf (Islamic endowments) Mohammed Mokhtar, prayed for an end to the pandemic.

"We pray to God to terminate epidemic in Egypt and all other countries and not to deprive us again of praying in His houses [of worship]," the official said inside a Cairo mosque.

Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country with over 100 million people, has so far reported more than 98,000 coronavirus infections and 5,342 related deaths.