Religious gatherings have been one of the more common Covid-19 clusters worldwide that have led to the spread of the virus among many people.
The most recent one would be the religious gathering in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that was attended by over 16,000 people from different countries.
It led to a spike of new cases in Malaysia and even spread to neighbouring countries like Singapore, Brunei and Cambodia.
So this new move isn’t surprising.
Anglican Chuch Suspends All Services
During this global pandemic, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings is extremely important in preventing the spread of the virus.
Thus, the Anglican Diocese of Singapore has decided to suspend all worship services and gatherings in all its churches for two weeks.
“In his pastoral letter to Anglican leaders, Bishop Rennis Ponniah said that the prayerful decision to temporarily suspend all our worship services was made to intentionally create a two-week break in church gatherings,” it said in a press release yesterday (19 March 2020).
“The Diocesan leadership has closely monitored the escalating COVID-19 situation and makes this contribution towards the concerted national effort to ‘flatten the coronavirus curve’.”
There are a total of 27 parishes under the Anglican Diocese of Singapore, with an average weekly attendance of about 21,000.
The churches plan to reopen on 3 Apr, right before the start of Holy Week on the weekend of 4 and 5 Apr.
Holy Week refers to the week right before Easter, and it is observed with very special solemnity.
Until then, the church will be conducting online weekend services, and pastoral care will be given to the elderly and the vulnerable.
Member of St. Andrew’s Cathedral Is A Confirmed Coronavirus Case
The suspension of services, for the time being, comes after a member of St. Andrew’s Cathedral tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday.
The infected man had attended the 9am English service held in the Cathedral New Sanctuary on Sunday, 14 Mar.
Following the incident, a notice was put up outside the church to inform parishioners that the church would be closed until 3 Apr. During the closure, the affected premises of the cathedral are to be “professionally disinfected”.
The member of St. Andrew’s Cathedral is one of the 47 new cases that were announced on Wednesday, which is an all-time high for Singapore.
Catholic Church Will Continue To Suspend Mass
The Anglican Diocese is not the first church in Singapore to suspend their worship services.
The Catholic Church suspended all their masses more than a month ago, on 15 Feb 2020. It was initially supposed to resume on Saturday, 14 Mar.
However, Archbishop William Goh decided to rescind his order after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic.
Thus, Catholic masses will continue to remain suspended until the Covid-19 situation stabilizes.
All Mosques Closed Until 26 Mar
Lest you didn’t already know, all 70 mosques in Singapore are also closed right now, which means today’s Friday prayers are suspended.
The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) announced the closure of all mosques on 13 Mar, and they were supposed to reopen after five days. This was after several people tested positive for the coronavirus after attending a religious gathering in Malaysia.
However, MUIS said on Monday, 16 Mar that all mosques would continue to remain closed until 26 Mar.
Last Friday, the Ministry of Health advised religious groups to pare down mass gatherings to 250 participants or below.
Although the suspension of religious services and gatherings is certainly a tough decision that will affect many, it is necessary in order to prevent more clusters from forming in Singapore.
Singapore currently has 345 cases of the coronavirus, after 32 new cases were reported last night. 124 of them have fully recovered and been discharged, while 15 are in the ICU.
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