Mumbai, Dec 22 (PTI) Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday appealed to people to celebrate Christmas in a simple manner in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an official statement issued three days ahead of the festival, Deshmukh called for observing physical distancing norms, wearing masks in public and using sanitisers to curb the spread of the infection.

According to the guidelines issued by the state government, prayer meetings in churches should be organised with attendance of maximum of 50 persons on the day of Christmas.

The choir should have a maximum of 10 members, the statement said.

Deshmukh also suggested organising thanksgiving mass in churches at 7 pm or before that instead of midnight on December 31.

A night curew (11 pm to 6 am) has been imposed in municipal corporation areas of Maharashtra from December 22 to January 5 as a precautionary measure amid growing concerns over the new coronavirus variant spreading in Britain.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)