LAUSR

T novel coronavirus disease‐19 (COVID‐19) pandemic is spreading across the globe at an alarming rate, with approximately 2.5 million people having tested positive, and more than 150,000 deaths recorded from this infection as on April 18, 2020. On one hand, hospitals in the affected areas have a shortage of ventilators for severely ill COVID‐19 patients, whereas on the other hand, due to the high death toll, the morgues and cemeteries are struggling to bury the dead. When the initial cases were recorded outside China, different countries and organizations immediately canceled their events and gatherings. For example, the American Physical Society canceled its annual meeting in Colorado, the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology annual meeting in San Diego in April 2020, and several other scientific organizations’ annual meetings were canceled due to fear of spreading COVID‐19 infection. It is common all over the world that practicing religious people did not follow the precautionary measures of social distancing in the COVID‐19 pandemic. They are attending their churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples regularly in these difficult times. During the early spring season in Asia, there are several annual religious congregations that occur in different countries. The Tablighi Ijtema (Muslim missionary congregation) was also scheduled on different days from February to March 2020 in Malaysia, India, and Pakistan. In all three countries, these religious congregations were held, and several hundred foreigners from different countries traveled to and participated in each separate congregation.