All congregational prayers in mosques suspended in Turkey to limit spread of coronavirus - religious body

Turkey on Monday suspended collective mosque prayers, including the important Friday prayers, until further notice to limit the spread of the new coronavirus.

"It is necessary to suspend collective prayers at mosques for a period," said Ali Erbaş, the head of Turkey's religious affairs authority, Diyanet.

Around 90,000 mosques will however remain open to individuals who wish to pray individually, Erbaş told reporters in Ankara.

"In this process, it is sufficient to do the noonday prayer instead of the Friday prayers," he said.

Erbas emphasized that all members of the Turkish public who went on umrah pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in a government-organized tour have returned to Turkey.

He added that 390 Turkish citizens who travel to Saudi Arabia on private tours will return today and be quarantined.

Turkey has in recent days stepped up its measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, shutting schools and universities for a limited period.

The interior ministry on Sunday said nightclubs, bars and discotheques would be "temporarily" closed from Monday.

Turkey officially has recorded 18 cases of the virus. On Sunday, thousands of pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia were quarantined.

The novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has so far spread to at least 146 countries and territories, and the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic.

According to Worldometer, a website that compiles new case numbers, out of roughly 176,000 confirmed cases, the death toll is nearly 6,700, while more than 77,500 of them have recovered.

The current number of active cases is nearly 90,000, with 93% in mild condition, and 7% in critical condition.