The Federal Capital Territory Administration has released guidelines for the reopening of places of worship as the country enters the second phase of the lockdown relaxation.
Churches in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states were barred from gathering in order to curb the spread of covid-19 pandemic. In spite this government action, the virus continued to spread. In March when the two states and the FCT were lockdown, no other state in the country had cases of covid-19 but by the end of May, the country had a record of close to 10,000 cases spread across all the states in the country except Kogi and Cross River.
The FCTA according to the guidelines expects churches to ensure the supply of running water and soap/alcohol sanitisers at entry and exit points and in all high-contact locations including bathrooms; Worshippers must sanitise their hands before entry to worship centres, and the provision of temperature checks before entry.
The guidelines among others further instruct that the use of face mask is mandatory for all worshipers and it strongly discourage all close contact including shaking hands, hugging, kissing, handing out of materials and sharing of worship implements including prayer mats, musical organs, microphones.
Church leaders are also expected to limit congregational contact times, with places of worship only opening for regular church services, while all-night vigil are not allowed but churches can operate from 5am and close by 8pm and each service should be for a maximum of 1 hour with an interval of 30 mins in between services to allow time for disinfection.
While faithful are not barred from congregating, vulnerable persons such as those aged 55 years and above, those with impaired immune systems (e.g. HIV, cancer treatment) and underlying co-morbidities such as diabetes and heart disease are advised to stay at home and consider remote participation or non-contact attendance such as drive-in services.
The FCTA leadership solicited for full compliance to the guidelines which also applied to mosques to avoid re-imposition of ban on religious gathering.
