Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 13, 2020 (ZIZ News): Chair of the Covid-19 Task Force, Abdias Samuel and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws met with church leaders on Tuesday at the Zion Moravian Church to discuss plans to restrict the spread of Covid-19 as they look to reopen their doors.
Among the topics discussed were possible service duration, sanitization programmes, wearing masks and the most vulnerable persons in the congregation.
Senior Pastor of the Zion Bethel congregation, Hilton Joseph spoke of plans his church has in place as they anticipate reopening their doors.
“We’re looking into how many persons we would be able to accommodate and the numbers are somewhere along the lines of eighty (80) per service and we’re looking at having maybe 3 services with a thirty (30) minute space or intermission between services to accommodate the cleaning team to come in and do what they have to do because we are very aware that covid-19 has no face and one of the things that the CMO and the Covid-19 Task Force have been stressing is the need for strict hygiene.”
As it relates to conducting sacraments such as communion, Lead Pastor at the Antioch Baptist Church, Lincoln Connor said that his church will continue the use of individual disposable communion packages.
“There had already been individual disposable Lord Supper(communion) element packages we have been using those so we will just continue to do that, it is more costly of course but I think it is a wonderful and ideal option in the circumstances.”
There is no set date for the reopening churches but church officials say they will continue to dialogue with officials from the Health Sector and the Covid-19 Task force on how they will proceed.