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Many in the Middle East took to social media on Saturday to mark Mother's Day, lamenting that they would not be able to visit family members amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But the best gift this Mother's Day would be to stay at home, some have said.

Officials across the world have already urged citizens to stay at home in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the Covid-19 disease.

Many have stressed that social distancing advice applies even on Mother's Day, which is celebrated on Saturday in the Middle East.

"Prevention is the best gift to offer you to keep you safe," tweeted Bachir Khodr, a provincial official in northern Lebanon, who shared a photo of his video call with his mother.

Lebanon has been under a general lockdown order for several days and has reported 187 cases of the virus.

In the coastal city of Jounieh, a group of three students banded together to bring some joy to the festivities despite the lockdown by delivering roses by drone.

Jordan's Royal Health Awareness Society echoed Khodr's mesage, telling followers on Twitter: "The most beautiful gift we can give our mothers today is to preserve their safety, our safety and our commitment to protecting the homeland."

— Nidaa Majali (@NidaaMajali) " style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post لفته جميله .. و هالكورونا طلع احسن ما فينا.. الا المحترمين الي كسروا حظر التجول — Nidaa Majali (@NidaaMajali)

The kingdom has introduced some of the tighest measures in the region to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Air raid sirens echoed across the Jordanian capital Amman early on Saturday to mark the start of a three-day curfew.

Jordan has ordered all shops to close and all people to stay off the streets until at least Tuesday, when it plans to announce specific times for shopping. Anyone caught violating the curfew faces up to one year in prison.

Despite those strict measures, unverified photos and videos on social media showed men dressed in full protective gear distributing flowers to Jordanian mothers.

Mother's Day messages shared on social media in the region were accompanied by popular hashtags urging everyone to stay at home.

Others took the opportunity to thank mothers who spent the holiday working as doctors or nurses at hospitals.

"My mom is a pharmacist who still goes to work everyday despite the Covid-19 outbreak out there, just because her job requires her to do so," tweeted one user from Lebanon.

"Here's an appreciation post to all the working moms who have to go to work during these hard risky times."

Another popular online greeting card praised mothers as the original advocates of hand-washing.



Agencies contributed to this report

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