Singing discouraged when doors reopen June 8
Churches, mosques and synagogues can open their doors to as many as 30 worshippers starting on June 8, but religious service will look different until Saskatchewan is delivered from COVID-19.
Guidelines released Friday forbid handshaking, passing offering baskets and sharing microphones. Ceremonies like handling Torah scrolls or baptism should be “modified to maintain physical distancing.”
Those practising communion “must exercise extreme caution.” Singing is not recommended, and those who do sing must wear masks.
Currently, places of worship are not subject to a specific ban. But they are limited by the 10-person limit established for gatherings across the province. The new rules that take effect June 8 increase that to one-third of the defined capacity of a building, to a maximum of 30 people.
Donald Bolen, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Regina, feels like the government listened to the faith community in preparing the guidelines this week.
“Where we started on Monday and where we got to by today is cause for rejoicing,” said Bolen. “It’s a good thing when leaders of a very divergent faith community are able to work together, and we certainly did that.”
Bolen said Pentecost services this weekend will take place under the 10-person limit. But communion will be a challenge. Three options will be available, including two that involve leaving the host on surfaces and one that involves “a lot of PPE.”
He’s eagerly anticipating the opportunity to welcome still more worshippers after June 8.
“I’m really looking forward to that, as are many Catholic faithful and many members of other communities, being mindful that many of our people are going to wait,” he said.
The faithful of Knox-metropolitan Church will be waiting. Cam Fraser, the United minister of the downtown Regina church, said there is no immediate plan to return to in-person worship — even under the guidelines.
“As much as we love worshipping as a community, we want to ensure that, when we do so again, we do so in a safe way,” he said.
“Online worship and community care through phone and email, though no substitute, is the safest way possible and we will continue to do so while we discern when is a right time to make a plan to resume worshipping in person.”
The government also released new guidelines for child care on Friday, explaining how staff can control the risk of infection when capacity increases from a maximum of eight to 15 kids per space on June 8.
Each 15-child group must be kept isolated, and cannot mix with others.
Each space will have to be separated by a barrier that can prevent children and toys from crossing over.
The guidelines acknowledge physical distancing is “less practical” for young children, but they recommended games to teach the principle of “two-arm lengths apart.”
Meanwhile, the government and opposition traded barbs over alleged double standard on fines
NDP Leader Ryan Meili criticized what he saw as an inconsistency in enforcing public health orders on Friday. He suggested there’s a double standard between northern and southern Saskatchewan.
In a post to Twitter on Friday, he cited a case where 11 people in Loon Lake were fined, in part, for not properly physically distancing while in a vehicle.
Meili compared that to Premier
Scott Moe’s statement on Thursday that education should always be the first step in the enforcement process.
Moe said that when asked about why attendees at large public gatherings connected to an outbreak in Saskatoon weren’t being fined.
In the now-deleted tweet, Meili asked whether Moe will direct the attorney general to waive the charges from northern Saskatchewan.
Meili later told reporters that afternoon that he’s worried about “big differences in the way fines are being applied.”
“If enforcement is going to be happening, it needs to be happening consistently across the board,” he said.
But the government came back swinging.
“It is not and should not be up to politicians to decide who is charged or to grant amnesty from charges,” said a statement from Moe’s press secretary, Jim Billington.
“It is concerning that Mr. Meili is calling for political interference in our justice system, bringing into question whether Mr. Meili would condone political interference in our justice system if the NDP ever formed government.”
Billington pointed out that the 11 people from the Loon Lake case were charged with a number of offences in addition to violating the public health order, such as assaulting a police officer and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
He said they were charged “at the discretion of the RCMP.”