Ayatollah al-Sistani’s advice to the Iraqi people regarding the increased number of ‎Coronavirus victims

After the increase in the number of people suffering from the Coronavirus in Iraq, the ‎revered source of emulation stressed the need to adhere to health guidelines and to ‎cooperate with the medical and healthcare staff in this regard.‎

News ID: 450267

Date: 07 June 2020 - 14:10

RNA – The office of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, the supreme authority of Shi’ahs in ‎Iraq, issued a statement to the Iraqi people emphasizing the need to take measures to ‎prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).‎

The text of this statement is as follows:‎

To the noble Iraqi people, in these difficult times wherein the outbreak of the Coronavirus in ‎various parts of the country, especially in Baghdad, has increased in an unprecedented ‎manner, we urge you to be more careful and to pay attention to the need to take ‎precautionary measures, such as refraining from gathering with others and observing social ‎distancing and using masks and washing hands regularly and wearing gloves.‎

Ayatollah al-Sistani also stressed the need to adhere to these measures and participate ‎effectively in taking appropriate measures to prevent further outbreaks of the Coronavirus ‎and said that health care is very important, especially given the current situation of the ‎country. Due to this weakness, it is necessary to provide facilities for the provision of ‎necessary medical equipment for the treatment of patients suffering from the Coronavirus.‎

‎“Preventing the spread of the disease is now the responsibility of all Iraqi citizens and ‎officials, and everyone must be responsible in this regard, and at this critical stage, they ‎must cooperate with the least possible consequences and damages,” the Shi’ah authority in ‎Iraq said.‎

The statement continued, stating, “We all need to keep in mind that medical and healthcare staff are ‎carrying a heavy burden in carrying out their missions in treating and carrying for the ill ‎Coronavirus victims and both they and their families are suffering, of which we know only a ‎little. They have risked their lives in this way, and the number of people with Coronavirus ‎has increased over the past few days. Therefore, to reduce the volume of their load and ‎suffering, everyone must be committed to taking preventive measures against the ‎prevalence of Coronavirus so that the number of patients with this virus does not double ‎and there is no additional burden on the medical staff.”‎

In conclusion, Ayatollah al-Sistani stated, “We all thank them (the medical staff) and ‎appreciate their continued efforts, as well as their valuable sacrifices in serving the people ‎and fulfilling their religious, national and human obligations. We ask God Almighty to protect ‎them and give them reward, goodness, health and blessings as much as they deserve. We ‎also ask God Almighty to grant all of us a speedy recovery from all the patients suffering ‎from the Coronavirus and the elimination of this calamity and disease, for He is the Hearer ‎and the Respondent.”‎

Rasa News Agency

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