The clergy must take the lead in bid to flatten the Covid-19 curve

The world is slowly opening places of worship for in-person (public) church services and other religious gatherings after closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. Beginning the end of May, countries in Europe, the Vatican, South Africa and some states in America progressively started to open places of worship albeit with guidelines concerning congregation size, frequent cleaning, use of face masks, hand washing and social distancing protocols.

St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, for example, opened doors again to congregational worship in mid-May. The closure of churches, despite the displeasure and culture shock surrounding it, was necessitated by uncertainty in regard to behaviour of the virus and the realisation that in some countries such as France and Germany, some Covid-19 cases had been traced to church.