Catholic churches resume service with only 100 in attendance
KUCHING: Roman Catholic churches here have resume services with only 100 parishioners per service and social distancing in place.
According to Archbishop of Kuching Rev Fr Simon Poh, the small number helped to ease admission of parishioners as the service teams would be able to concentrate on one entrance and that there was no overcrowding.
“We will be evaluating the situation this week with the aim to gradually increase (the number of people) as the admission teams have become familiar with the protocols.
“As more Catholics would like to come to church, we will gradually look into daily masses using the same protocols that have been set up,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Prior to the churches’ reopening, Poh said the service teams had conducted many trial runs for the past two weeks to familiarise themselves and ensure compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOP).
This include manning entry at the gate, followed by admission protocols with screening counters for temperature taking, registration for contact tracing using Qmunity app or manual logbook, hand sanitising and seating with social distancing, and wearing of masks.
This is to ensure safety for all church goers and that the church will be a safe environment for worship and for the reception of the Holy Communion, he added.
“In our Archdiocesan websites, the safety protocols and videos on coming to church have been made available to prepare those who are returning to church.
“The respective parish churches have also made their own videos.
“All these have helped the faithful to follow the SOP when they come to church,” he said.