The risk of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) transmission is increased by crowded indoor settings. Many sites have been identified in the published medical literature as causes of outbreaks but Muslim congregational prayer areas, mosques or masjids, have unusually not been implicated as outbreak sources to date. This article gives a detailed description of this particular setting and a description of the crowd behavior which may account for this finding. Factors identified include open layout, decreased generation of fomite transmission as a result of the physiology of worship, short duration of worship, low sound levels during worship, linear and directional arrangement of worshipers, rules based filling and emptying dynamics, and localisation of crowds.
Key words: Prayer, COVID19, transmission
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