…say religious leaders amid Covid-19 pandemic
…Churches, Mosques, Temples cancel events and large gatherings

By Naomi Parris
WITH the number of confirmed cases of the dreaded Coronavirus in Guyana now pegged at four, several church organisations have cancelled various events and large gatherings as the country grapples with the deadly virus.

In a press release last week, the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Conference revealed that, due to the pandemic facing the country and the world, the conference will be cancelling a series of events and large gatherings to prevent the spread of the virus. The statement read: “The General Conference of SDA has postponed the Global Youth Day 2020 activities with the recommendation that we transition to a prayer focus instead. In an attempt to protect your health and that of your families, the Youth Department is hereby postponing the blood donation drives and all other GYD activities.”

This year’s global youth day was slated for March 21; the event is one of the most anticipated events for the Seventh Day Adventist community, since it is a day which the churches give back to the general public. The statement also revealed that the conference will be postponing the “Cry Salvation” adventurer Camporee that was scheduled for April 7 – 12, 2020 in the island of Barbados. This is in light of the fact that several cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed in many countries across the Caribbean Union.
The conference has also taken a decision to postpone the Youth Week of Prayer (YWOP) Revival meetings scheduled for Georgetown, New Amsterdam.

Additionally, Pastor Exton Clarke, President of the Guyana Seventh Day Adventist, in a message to the Seventh Day Adventist community stated, “As a church, this is not time to freeze in fear but rather to press forward in faith as we keep focus on our primary role in this world and that is to bring healing to broken lives and salvation to lost humanity.”

Pastor Clarke also advised that the Adoption of all precautionary measures for prevention and Spread of COVID -19 Virus is critical. “Refrain from holding and shaking hands and other forms of physical contact in public worship. Wherever communion services are conducted, it would be best for leaders administrating the service to publicly wash hands, dry thoroughly, apply hand sanitizer and use new gloves (preferably plastic) for breaking of bread. The foot-washing ceremony can be made optional during this period. Comply with all restrictions regarding the virus as issued by the relevant Governmental authorities” he said.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Apostle B. Ragnauth of Life Spring Ministries noted that his congregation is taking all the necessary precautions as advised by the public health system. “We did not run the AC yesterday (Sunday) we opened up all the doors, so I had all my ushers and greeters with sanitizers, so everybody’s hands was sanitised before they came in the building , what we did was observe the distance rule, the one meter rule, we did not shake hands; we did not do our usual hugs” he said.

In addition, Apostle B. Ragnauth noted that he was appealing to persons to not stigmatize those who are infected with the virus and to pray for the entire nation and its healing in the midst of this pandemic.

Additionally, Reverend Claude Brooks of Love and Faith Ministries related to the Guyana Chronicle that the church has had to cancel a major international event due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He stated that the event was cancelled not because of the fear of the virus but as a precaution to ensure that persons remain safe.

Reverend Brooks noted that his congregation has been educated on the pandemic by a medical nurse who is attached to the Love and Faith Ministries; however he added that members of the congregation who are vulnerable to the virus were asked to remain home for the sake of themselves and others.

“The people who are of a certain age we are encouraging them not to come, people who have [non-communicable diseases] such as hypertension we are encouraging them not to come; the vulnerable we encouraged them not to come,” he said.

In addition, a member of the Queenstown Jama Masjid related that the Muslim congregation is following the necessary precautions by doing what was instructed by the local health system and media outlets to prevent the spread of the virus. The man added that persons in their congregation were taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves and have avoided the usual warm welcome of shaking hands and hugging when greeting each other.

Stricter Quarantine
Meanwhile, Reverend Brooks noted that the Ministry of Public Health should implement stricter quarantine measures as the pandemic seems to be spreading rapidly across the country. “

We have to do all that we can to stay healthy; observe all the precautions but we have to be praying because God is the ultimate healer …also I believe the government, through the Ministry of Health, and all social workers, should do everything that they can within their power. We need to be more diligent when dealing with it, “he stated. In agreeance with Reverend Brooks, Pandit Gavin Mahadeo stated that there should be a more resilient attack to combat the virus.

“I’ve seen a number of temples would have indicated that they are not going to have these full blown services, I don’t think that there is enough awareness, especially with some of these countryside temples; people are not seeing the seriousness of this [pandemic],” he stated.

Pandit Mahadeo further related that he believes that not much is being done within the Hindu community to educate persons about the deadly virus; in expressing his disappointment Mahadeo stated that himself and another Pandit in the region had been advocating having all temples reduce their congregation during this critical time.
“We’re advocating that we limit the size of our services. It’s not that you’re telling people not to pray but at least we can have a schedule as to how we would attend services,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pandit Gavin noted that several temples have postponed their annual pujas to a later date as a precaution during the outbreak.