Social distancing is practiced during mass at a church in Kuching in this file photo.
KUCHING (Nov 28): Anglican churches in Kuching and Samarahan will resume services from tomorrow (Nov 29) onwards, said Bishop of the Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei, the Right Reverend Datuk Danald Jute.
However, he said some parishes and bigger churches such as St Thomas’ Cathedral will not be open until next Sunday (Dec 6).
“Kuching is now a (Covid-19) yellow zone. Barring any sudden spike of cases, we may reopen our churches in Kuching and Samarahan this Sunday with strict observance of the standard operating procedures (SOP).
“The responses received from our parishes are mixed – some will reopen this Sunday and others will reopen next Sunday.
“Some bigger churches like St Thomas’ Cathedral will not open until next Sunday, this means that it is still closed to in-person congregational worship tomorrow,” he said when contacted today.
Danald pointed out that only a maximum of 150 parishioners are allowed to attend each service, subjected to the size and capacity of the churches and parishes.
Physical distancing is to be strictly adhered to, he added.
On Oct 28, he said all Anglican church services in Covid-19 red zones in Kuching including that of All Soul’s day was suspended.
Visiting to cemeteries, including the Batu Kitang Anglican church cemetery, is strongly discouraged as it is in close proximity to Kampung Haji Baki, which had a recent Covid-19 cluster.
On Nov 12, the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) announced that EMCO at the village was lifted after no new cases were detected there.
In its daily update yesterday, Kuching’s status changed from orange to yellow, with a total of 18 local transmission cases reported in the last 14 days.
On another note, Catholic churches here as well as in Kota Sentosa and Kota Padawan will also resume mass this weekend.
Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching Simon Poh said the Archdiocese of Kuching received confirmation from the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) that houses of worship in Kuching District could reopen after the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) ended yesterday.
Poh said the number of parishioners per service is still limited to 100 persons, with physical distancing restriction in place. He advised Catholics who wish to attend masses to contact their respective parishes to register their attendance.