Role of Religious Practices in the Spread and Mitigation of COVID-19

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 which engulfed the world like wild fire in less than 2 months. It has played havoc with the lives of people restricting their movement, confining them to their homes for months, devastating the economy, and causing psychological issues in some of them. In the unprecedented threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on communities and nations across the globe, religious leaders and faith-based organizations may play a crucial role in saving lives and mitigating the spread of the disease. Religious leaders and faith-based organizations are primary source of support, comfort, guidance, direct health care and social service, for the communities they serve and people who have staunch belief in them. Most of the religious-minded people visit their places of worship frequently and often join the congregations on special occasions, making them vulnerable to any infectious disease prevailing at that time. Ensuring awareness and dispelling pseudoscientific practices is a necessity for such communities in India to contain and control the coronavirus infection, as it presents unique threat owing to the geographical vastness and the complexity of its cultural and religious diversity, beliefs, and practices coexisting with poor social indicators in this country. A study was conducted to understand the role of religious practices in the spread and mitigation of COVID-19.