As Singapore grappled with rising numbers of coronavirus infections earlier this year, the country's Muslim religious leaders unanimously agreed to close the mosques, a move applauded by Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli.

Speaking on The Straits Times video news programme The Big Story, Mr Masagos, who is also Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, said the move was ahead of what other countries did at the time.

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) ordered all 70 mosques here to close from March 13 for cleaning, and they have remained shuttered since amid the circuit breaker measures.

Mosques will "continue to provide essential services to the community via alternative means" such as online and on-air platforms, Muis said earlier.

Malaysia ordered its mosques to close from March 17, while mosques in Jakarta, Indonesia's most populous city, were closed on April 10.

The Indonesian government has not mandated nationwide mosque closures, choosing instead to curtail road, air and sea travel during Ramadan to curb rising numbers of new Covid-19 infections.

The move to close mosques here came after a late February mass Islamic prayer session in Kuala Lumpur spawned hundreds of infections and ignited fears that it could be a "super-spreader" event.

Over 400 cases in Malaysia are linked to that gathering, which attracted some 16,000 worshippers.

Initial fears of a similarly large number in Singapore turned up just five cases to date.

Brunei, Cambodia and Thailand have also announced cases linked to that gathering.

For Ramadan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration, the same group of scholars - who advocated closing the mosques and are "very respected" in society - have made calls to the local Muslim community to adapt and adhere to safe distancing measures, Mr Masagos said.

"I am very happy that our religious scholars have always aligned (with) and understand the need to issue instructions and guidance, based on medically sound advice," he said.

Mr Masagos acknowledged that being cooped up at home during the circuit breaker period was a "very difficult situation", but one that could be overcome if people "hunker down together".

"This is something we do together. Nobody is special, nobody has special treatment," he said.