Arab-Americans living in coronavirus hotspots take action for safe Ramadan

Traditions for holy month are on hold as data shows many people of Middle Eastern descent are living in areas with bad outbreaks

Abbas Al Haj Ahmed talks with his cousin Adam Bazzi over a video call while their family shares a meal and breaks fast on the first full day of Ramadan on April 24, 2020 in Dearborn. Getty Images via AFP

Due to the social distancing guidelines being enforced to combat the spread of the coronavirus the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is going to be observed differently this year amidst the pandemic. Getty Images via AFP

Dona Awada, an employee of Lebon Sweets, prepares traditional deserts in between serving customers on the first day of Ramadan on April 23, 2020 in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

Two customers place their groceries in their cart while checking out at Greenland Market on the first day of Ramadan on April 23, 2020 in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

Zeinab Assi (L) stands next to her mother, Kay Dourra, while shopping for Ramadan decorations at Heights Kitchenware on the first day of Ramadan on April 23, 2020 in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

Respecting social distancing, people line up to check out at Greenland Market on the first day of Ramadan in Dearborn Heights. Getty Images via AFP

Ramadan decorations are displayed at Heights Kitchenware on the first day of Ramadan in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

Community organizer Nazel Huda directs traffic while volunteers place donated food items into the cars of people in need on the first day of Ramadan in Hamtramck, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

Armani Asad, owner of Maa Fashion in Hamtramck (C) places donated food in the trunk of a car while Nazel Huda, left, holds open the door on the first day of Ramadan. Getty Images via AFP

Empty boxes are piled up after community organizers and volunteers with an organization called Bridges distributed donated food items to the many cars in line down the street on the first day of Ramadan. Getty Images via AFP

Imam Magdy Badr leads prayers over a live broadcast on a laptop in a nearly empty room at Masjid Al Salaam mosque on the first full day of Ramada in Dearborn, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

Imam Magdy Badr leads prayers over a live broadcast on a laptop in a nearly empty room at Masjid Al Salaam mosque on the first full day of Ramada on April 24, 2020 in Dearborn, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

Imam Magdy Badr leads prayers over a live broadcast on a laptop in a nearly empty room at Masjid Al Salaam mosque on the first full day of Ramada on April 24, 2020 in Dearborn, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

Adnan Ell Kadri listens to prayers in a nearly empty room at Masjid Al Salaam on the first full day of Ramadan on April 24, 2020 in Dearborn, Michigan. Getty Images via AFP

A sign that reads Ramadan Kareem near the front entrance of the Masjid Al Salaam mosque and Dearborn Community Centre on the first full day of Ramada Getty Images via AFP

Several of the areas of the US outside New York that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic are also home to large Arab-American communities. Now, at the start of Ramadan, worries increase that cases could rise in the community unless action is taken to prevent the spread as America tops a million cases of Covid-19 – a third of all confirmed patients in the world.

Mosques and other places of worship remain closed to prevent the spread of the virus and while some restrictions on going out are being lifted, the traditional gatherings of friends and family for the post-sunset breaking of fast during the holy month will not be possible. Visits between homes have been banned in states such as Michigan, home to hundreds of thousands of Arab-American Muslims.

The restrictions have prompted changes to age-old customs. In Dearborn, Michigan, the American Moslem Society has started a twice-weekly online "Quran night" for post-iftar recitations and discussions via Zoom on Mondays and Fridays.

For Issam Koussan, owner of the Super Greenland Market in Dearborn, the holy month usually brings a spike in customers stocking up on Middle Eastern delicacies during the holy month. But not this year.

The Manhattan skyline rises over the Borough of Brooklyn on March 31, 2020 in New York. AFP

A shopper and cashier wear protective equipment at the checkout station at Pat's Farms grocery store in Merrick, New York. AFP

Paramedics push a gurney with a patient to Brooklyn Hospital Centre Emergency Room in the Brooklyn borough of New York. AFP

A New York Police officer stands guard in an almost empty Times Square during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease. Reuters

A mounted police officer rides though a mostly deserted Times Square during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in the Manhattan. Reuters

A man wears personal protective equipment as he walks on First Avenue, during the coronavirus disease outbreak in New York City. Reuters

A New York City Police officer takes a selfie while in the middle of the street in an almost empty Times Square. Reuters

The US Navy hospital ship carrying 1,000 hospital beds moves past the Statue of Liberty as it arrives in New York. AFP

A medical worker walks out of a coronavirus testing tent at Brooklyn Hospital Centre in New York City. AFP

A worker cleans along the Las Vegas Strip devoid of the usual crowds as casinos and other business are shuttered due to the coronavirus outbreak. AP

Members of the US Army Corps of Engineer Research Development Centre’s Directorate of Public Works construct two temporary hospital room prototypes in Vicksburg. The Vicksburg Post via AP

Carol Talkington helps Terri Bonasso tape a notice on the emergency room door following a vigil at the closing of the Fairmont Regional Medical Centre in Fairmont. Times-West Virginian via AP

A motel sign is lit along a quiet Sunset Boulevard at dusk amid the coronavirus pandemic on March 31, 2020 in Los Angeles. AFP

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks during a virtual press briefing on March 25, 2020. Bloomberg

"It's really tough this year dealing with the pandemic. Ramadan is usually a busy season for us; people come to us from all over the state," Mr Koussan said.

Restrictions such as limiting the number of shoppers inside the store at any one time have driven business down. Although he didn't mention it, with one in four in the state out of work the economic toll is likely keeping customers away.

His supermarket isn't immune to this. "We've had to let go some of our employees and pay extra to those who still work with us, because of the risk," he said.

Dearborn is part of Wayne County, home to the biggest and oldest Middle Eastern community in the US with about 200,000 residents of Arab descent. The county is also one of the worst affected in the country, having recorded more than 15,870 cases of Covid-19 – more than 37 US states.

"I get a lot of calls. People are afraid, anxious. They feel uprooted," said Father George Shalhoub of the Saint Mary Antiochian Orthodox Christian church in Livonia, a leafy suburb in Wayne County with large and deep-rooted Lebanese and Palestinian communities. "The church used to be historically the place where people come to as a haven in war or pandemic in the past."

He says he knows of four doctors in the area who contracted the virus, although they have since recovered.

According to figures by the Michigan government, people of Arab background are estimated to account for 1 per cent of infections and fatalities in the state, or around 3,200 and 240 respectively. This rate suggests around 1 in 3 of the people in the state who identify as Arab have been affected.

The figures, however, are thought to be well below actual cases since not all individuals tested are likely to have identified solely as Arab.

The Islamic Centre of America in Dearborn, the largest mosque in North America, has been dealing with a 30 per cent increase in funerals in the last several weeks.

Though officials would not say whether the increase was attributable to Covid-19, a source at the mosque said many of those buried were more than 50 years old and had underlying medical conditions – two factors linked to a higher risk of dying from the virus.

And not everyone has been following the health guidelines. Municipal authorities in Dearborn have repeatedly been forced to call upon residents to practice social distancing with local reports suggesting issues around people visiting each other at home. The Arab American owner of a car wash chain was cited by police for failing to close as per the state stay-at-home order.

Michigan's is not the only Arab American community to feel the wrath of the virus. In neighbouring Illinois, Mansour Tadros, the founder of the Arab-English newspaper The Future News that ran from 2001 to 2019 out of a Chicago suburb, died on March 28 from suspected Covid-19 complications.

But community organisations are trying to help spread information that could keep people safe as well as assist those hit by the virus.

The health crisis has placed increased demands on the Dearborn-headquartered Arab Community Centre for Economic and Social Services (Access), the largest Arab American non-profit in the country. Its almost 500-strong staff, now working remotely, helped with the testing of 4,000 first responders and healthcare workers that allowed many to return to the frontlines.

It has enrolled 300 people in health insurance and assisted thousands more in the Detroit metro area fill out unemployment and other social support claims.

Access has also translated federal and state health warning notices into Arabic for those who do not read English.

"Especially being an immigrant community, the Arab American community is vulnerable. They have less access to basic needs and are experiencing difficulties with unemployment, access to food and health care," said Rana Abbas-Taylor, director of communications for Access. "While we don't track [infection] numbers for the community, we know that they are at risk – just like other communities of colour."

At the same time, Arab-owned businesses are making crucial contributions in the fight against Covid-19. Lebanese immigrant Al Siblani's 3-D printing company EnvisionTEC has been producing 1 million test swabs a day that have been sent out across the country from his Dearborn plant.

The pandemic has already upset plans for the annual Arab American Heritage Month held throughout April, as well as celebrations of the Orthodox Easter on April 19 and now Ramadan.

"People are mostly staying home, they're not socialising [this Ramadan]," says Mr Koussan. "They're mostly doing what they should do."