Prime Minister Edi Rama held a meeting with the leaders of Albania’s religious communities today, calling for their support to raise awareness among their followers about the necessity to strictly observe and adhere to the instructions issued by the public health institutions in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The Premier highlighted the importance of stopping panic, respecting hygiene and sanitation and increased care especially for the elderly and people with chronic illnesses.

COVID-19 is an unknown virus, the Premier said, underlining that its death rate is lower compared with other diseases.

“The easiest, most accurate and most beautiful thing you can read to take epidemic advice is the word of the Prophet who said: “If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place.”

“Actually what people need to do is that whoever arrives from an affected area should be self-quarantined,” PM Rama noted, adding that the decision to shut down the education institutions is more related to the transmission of the virus to others than the risk children themselves face.

The Albanian clergy representatives appealed for the need for citizens to implement measures designed to prevent the spread of the virus.