KINGSTON, Jamaica, May 18, 2020 – Several churches resumed service yesterday for the first time with more than the previous 10 people mandated by Government, but at least one clergyman is contending that the decision to relax the COVID-19 restriction is ill-timed, the Jamaica Observer reported.
Praise City International Transformation Centre’s Senior Pastor Rohan Televen has argued that the decision taken by Prime Minister Andrew Holness last week for churches to have a 14-day trial period was risky.
Churches are allowed to resume with strict observation of the social distancing rules, which Holness said include congregants being arm’s-length apart, or one person per 40 square feet.
Ahead of yesterday’s praise and worship session, Televen told the Jamaica Observer that he is not in “total agreement” with the measures.
“We are trying to reopen when the cases are climbing and there are issues relating to testing. We don’t want to expose our people because some persons are asymptomatic. Now is not the right time. I know the Seventh-day Adventists are looking more closely at how they will reopen. I think they have said that they will wait until the end of May or sometime in June before they reopen, because it is important that we understand what is happening and what the spread is. We have to do all that we can to flatten the curve so that COVID-19 does not remain with us,” the churchman said, adding that members had been clamouring to return to the sanctuary.
“Nevertheless, what we have done is to honour the guidelines so the church is refitted differently. We’ve removed some of the chairs; we’ve put distance between them — a broom length — and we’ve also ensured that those who are 65 and over with underlying conditions stay home,” he added. See full story in the Jamaica Observer at http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/disagreement-comfort-as-churches-resume-under-relaxed-measures_194375?profile=1606
