Mohammed Jiva has rallied his community to help turn the Masjid E Ghosia mosque in the northern industrial town of Bolton into a 55-bed hospice for end of life patients.
It comes as venues across Britain are being turned into military hospitals and ice rinks are being used as temporary morgues as the nation prepares for a peak in cases.
When his local mosque was closing due to the UK’s lockdown rules, Dr Jiva contacted his colleagues at Bolton Hospital, Dr Zahid Chauhan OBE, Dr Sharif Uddin and Dr Rauf Munshi, to see if it would be possible to use the mosque’s large hall as a hospice facility.
"The mosque has a large hall, which is used for weddings and events, which would be just sitting there empty," he told The National.
“As the mosque’s medical officer and seeing what is happening at the ExCel and GMEX conference centres, I knew here in Bolton we would still have a major issue of how we look after the ill.
“The local hospital will struggle on where we can place end of life patients. I spoke to consultants at Bolton Hospital and another GP. We came together to look at how to turn the site into end of life care and to offer a 24/7 package of care.
“We put out a call for volunteers and got a great response with more than 60 people both young and old offering to help. Local dentists are helping to run the infection and control side.”
He expects to see the first patients coming into the mosque in the next two weeks, however, the doctors are still looking for volunteers to help the plans to go forward.
“We are needing builders’ merchants to help us with the materials that will enable us to section off each compartment so the patients have dignity,” Dr Jiva added.
“It’s important as we do not want patients seeing the person in the next bed dying. It will be staffed by local GPs.”
The Bolton Council of Mosques is supporting the initiative.
Said Mohammed Akuji, a trustee from the Council of Mosques, said: "Straight away we thought it was a fantastic idea and a great way to give back to the community.
"We thought how can we utilise this rather than just leaving it as it is, especially at a time when we really need something like this
"It's our way to help everybody in the community.”
In neighbouring Manchester, the Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium has opened its doors to the NHS as a training centre and conference centre the GMEX is being turned into a military hospital.
On Tuesday, Prince Charles, who has recently recovered from coronavirus, praised initiatives like Dr Jiva’s and the volunteers involved, describing their actions as “truly wonderful”.
In a video released on Twitter, he said: “It has been so wonderful to see just how many across the UK have signed up in their hundreds and thousands to be NHS volunteers, offering their help to do whatever they can to provide support to those on the frontline.”
The UK government issued new advice on funerals on Monday due to the risk that the virus could be transmitted to mourners and from the deceased person.
Faith leaders and funeral directors have been advised to restrict the number of mourners and limit them to close family members.
In addition, the guidance advises that since there is a small but real risk of transmission from the body of a deceased person, mourners are strongly advised not to take part in any rituals or practices that bring them into close contact with the body of a person who has died from or with symptoms of coronavirus.
Mohamed Omer, board member of Gardens of Peace, said: “We welcome the new guidance and would like to reiterate that it is essential that we maintain social distancing at all times, including at funerals.
“We should also severely curtail the numbers who attend the funerals so as to ensure that staff working at burial sites and others are protected. If circumstances dictate then we should contemplate, as hard as it may seem, no attendees at funerals.
“It is also welcoming to note that we can perform our ritual wash as long as we observe the necessary precautions of wearing the right PPE and follow the process included in this guideline.”
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
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Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
