By Ashraf Kamil

Singapore, Feb 14, 2020: The Catholic Church in Singapore has suspended all public Masses both on weekdays and weekends from February 15 onwards until further notice.

This is in the light of Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.

In a Facebook post on February 14, the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore — which oversees 32 Catholic churches around the island — also advised parish priests and the lay communities that all other public events with large numbers of people attending, such as faith formation sessions, retreats and seminars should also be suspended.

Late last month, the Church had earlier exempted its members who are unwell or showing flu-like symptoms from attending Mass.

In its Facebook post, the Church — in a pastoral letter signed by Archbishop William Goh — said that in the past weeks, it had provided medical and public health advisories to minimize the risk of a cluster outbreak of Covid-19 among its congregations and priests, adding that it had even considered mandating compulsory temperature-taking.

However, it is aware that temperature-taking is not a fool-proof screening tool as persons who are asymptomatic can also be carriers of the infection.

“Thus, implementing temperature screening may not entirely help prevent the spread of this infection even though it does mitigate the possibility of its transmission.”

Archbishop Goh, who is the leader of the Catholic Church, said that the cancellation of Masses does not mean that Catholics can excuse themselves from fulfilling their religious obligation, adding that they could follow the broadcast of the Mass on YouTube or on the mobile application CatholicSG Radio.

They should spend time in prayer and to pray for the world that this Covid-19 virus will be contained and eradicated, and also for those in the frontlines — the doctors and the nurses — who are putting their own well-being in the service of the sick, he added.

In the letter, the archbishop also said that weddings and funerals are considered private services which means only invited guests are able to attend.

Arrangements will have to be made with the parish priest, with all precautionary measures to be taken based on the advice of the Catholic Medical Guild.

As of Friday, Singapore has recorded 67 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Of these, 17 have been discharged from hospital while another six remain in the intensive care unit and are critically ill.

Source: todayonline.com