23:32, 10 March 2020

Azerbaijan cancels mass celebration of Nowruz because of coronavirus

Temperature screening. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

The authorities of Azerbaijan cancelled throughout the whole country all mass events related to the celebration of Nowruz. The operational headquarters called on local residents to postpone wedding parties and other celebrations accumulating crowds of people.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 9, Azerbaijan detected 11 cases of infection with coronavirus.

Starting from February 29, the border between Azerbaijan and Iran has been closed because of the spread of coronavirus.

The authorities called on residents of the country to postpone celebrations, such as wedding parties, and to hold commemoration ceremonies in a narrower circle of relatives and friends, the "Sputnik-Azerbaijan" reports.

Nowruz-Bairam is a holiday of spring, and it symbolizes the awakening of all living creatures. One of the main attributes of the Nowruz holiday is a bonfire: people jump over it to get cleansed of all the bad things accumulated over the past year. On the holiday, there is a tradition to light candles in memory of the deceased people; and there is also a tradition to reconcile all quarrelling parties.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 10, 2020 at 03:37 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.