Places of worship allowed to reopen

AUCKLAND: Places of worship are now officially allowed to reopen, but restrictions on the number of people allowed to gather are still in place.

Depending on the size of a building where services are being held, multiple groups of 10 people will be allowed at any religious services.

However, under Alert Level 2 restrictions still in place, they must maintain a 2m distance from other worshippers.

If the church or place of worship is smaller, only 10 people can attend the service while also remaining 2m away from others.

Police yesterday released a guidelines supplement to help officers policing the rules in the community.

‘‘Our faith communities have remained away from their places of worship and congregations over the Alert Level 3 and 4 restrictions,’’ the document shows.

‘‘At [Alert Level 2], there are no longer measures restricting people from leaving their home or place of residence.

‘‘The community is able to resume various daytoday activities. Places of worship may now open.’’

Officers were told in the guidelines if they were to go to a church or place of worship for work reasons, they needed to use discretion and common sense.

‘‘We need to remember that faith is a very important aspect of many New Zealanders’ lives and therefore need to be treated using high levels of empathy and sensitivity.

‘‘The intent is to ensure the safety of all persons present by adhering to the guiding principles of physical distancing, hand hygiene and contact tracing.’’

It will be welcome news to Muslims in New Zealand, who are now in their last few days of the holy month of Ramadan, when members fast during daylight hours.

Muslims last week expressed their sadness at not being able to worship together during this time.

µ New Zealand recorded one new case of Covid19 yesterday, linked to the St Margaret's cluster in Auckland.

The Ministry of Health said the new case was a household contact of an earlier case.

The new case brings the total number of confirmed cases to 1154. If probable cases were included, the total is 1504.

The ministry yesterday said 97% of all confirmed and probable cases had now recovered, an increase of three on Thursday, for a total of 1455.