JAKARTA – Millions of Muslims in Asia on Friday started the holiest month on the Islamic calendar under the coronavirus lockdown or strict social restrictions, deepening their anxiety over the disease.
For many, Ramadan is a time to get closer to God, family and community, but the pandemic has upended those traditions. Many face unemployment, travel plans to visit relatives have been canceled and places where they usually break the daytime fast with families such as malls, parks and mosques are locked. “This is too sad to be remembered in history,” said Belm Febriansyah, a resident in the capital of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.