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| - Residents of Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan trickled back into mosques and restaurants Monday as the government loosened a coronavirus lockdown that it put in place almost two months ago. Mosques and other religious buildings were working again across the majority-Muslim country, although visitor numbers were restricted to 30 percent of capacity and there are currently no plans to restart popular Friday prayers. The chief cleric at the Nur-Astana mosque in the Kazakh capital, Nurlan Ramazanov, told AFP that visitors can only spend 15 minutes at a time in the mosque and that masks are mandatory. People who are praying must do so at a distance of at least 1.5 metres (five feet), Ramazanov added, as dozens gathered inside the building at lunchtime. "We hope these measures are temporary, as al-Qadr (celebrated near the end of Ramadan) will soon be upon us," Ramazanov said. Aisha, a middle-aged woman who left the towering Nur-Astana mosque with her disabled son after reading the Koran was confident the restrictions would safeguard public health. "We missed our home," she told AFP, referring to the mosque. "We are respecting all the rules, so we don't have any fear." Oil-rich Kazakhstan has registered over 6,400 coronavirus cases since the first infection was detected in mid-March, more than any country in ex-Soviet Central Asia, according to official tallies. The region's largest economy has also led the way in reopening, with hairdressers among the first businesses allowed to open their doors earlier this month as neighbouring countries kept stringent lockdowns in force. Only Kazakhstan's largest city and former capital Almaty has decided to delay the reopening of restaurants, hotels and religious places for another week. Elena Vasilyeva, the manager of the upscale Zina restaurant in Nur-Sultan said that the pandemic was something restaurateurs "couldn't have prepared for" but noted the lockdown had helped her business move into the delivery market. Zina also donated meals to medical staff and volunteers delivering medicine to vulnerable groups, she said. "We couldn't sit on the sidelines," despite the financial hit felt due to lockdown measures, she said. Now the restaurant is greeting patrons with temperature checks upon entry, while staff are wearing gloves and masks to serve drinks and food. On Monday, half of the tables in the restaurant were marked with signs that read: "This table is kept free out of concern for your health." Akhmet, a 30-year-old office worker passing close by the restaurant on his way to a recently reopened bank welcomed an easing to the lockdown as "a change of scenery". "We sat at home, respected the (lockdown) measures... I think a lot of people will greet this news with great joy," he told AFP. dr-cr/jbr/erc/jv
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