Karbala cancels the ritual that marks Muharram's beginning 

Shafaq News/ The Emam Hussein and al-Abbas Shrines' Commissions decided on Monday to cancel the ceremonials that accompany switching the red flags on the top of the corresponding domes by black flags; an annual ritual that marks the beginning of the holy month of Muharram.

The head of the Husseini Shrine Media Department, Aqeel al-Sharifi, told Shafaq News Agency that the Shrine's decision came in response to the instructions of the Marja'iah, the Supreme Shiite Authority in Iraq, and the decrees of the Crisis cell. 

"Preventive measures will be intensified, masks will be distributed, and sanitation work will be continued," he added, "we will work to provide proper aeration, temperature, and humidity. The pilgrims will be grouped while keeping social distancing."

Typically, millions of Shiites from around the world flock to the golden-domed shrine where Hussein's remains are buried, to pray and cry, shoulder-to-shoulder. 

But with coronavirus numbers spiking across the country, the commemoration will be subdued for the second year in a row.