LAHORE - Minister for Auqaf Syed Saeed-ul-Hassan Shah has urged people with symptoms of flu to stay away from religious congregations to avoid spreading virus to others. Addressing a press conference at Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) on Thursday, he stressed the need for following government directions and avoiding public gatherings, religious congregations. Flanked by Secretary Auqaf Dr Irshad Ahmed, Director General Auqaf Syed Tahir Raza Bukhari and other officers, the minister said that religious scholars deserved applause for supporting government preventive measures to save people from coronavirus. “Islam gives cleanliness and hygiene a status of half the faith. Non-Muslims have now accepted this reality”, he said, adding, there was a dire need of ensuring cleanliness in mosques and adopting other precautionary measures to defeat coronavirus. He stressed the need of massive awareness campaigns about preventive measures, symptoms of coronavirus and treatment. He said that there was no need of worry as the government was properly handling confirmed and suspected patients of COVID-19. He said that there was no dearth of equipment and preventive gears at hospitals.