SINGAPORE – All regular worship services and gatherings in Anglican parish churches islandwide have been suspended until April 3.

The Anglican Diocese of Singapore said on Thursday (March 19) that this was with immediate effect to “create a two-week break in church gatherings”.

“The Diocesan leadership has closely monitored the escalating Covid-19 situation and makes this contribution towards the concerted national effort to ‘flatten the coronavirus curve’,” it said, referring to the graph that shows a lower number of infected cases over time with proper containment measures.

There are currently 27 parishes of varying sizes in the Anglican Diocese of Singapore, with an average weekly attendance of about 21,000.

The churches plan to be open before the weekend of April 4 and 5, the start of Holy Week which is the week leading up to Easter Sunday on April 12.

In the meantime, online weekend services will be conducted,and pastoral care will given to the elderly and the vulnerable.

The announcement comes after St Andrew’s Cathedral, the oldest Anglican site of worship in Singapore, was closed after one of its members was infected with the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, a notice was put up informing members that the church located next to City Hall would be closed from 11.59pm on Wednesday to 11.59pm on April 3 for the affected premises to be professionally disinfected.

It said that it received the information about the case on Wednesday afternoon, and the infected member is currently warded in hospital.

The man had attended the 9am English Service held in the Cathedral New Sanctuary on Sunday.

“He had no symptoms of illness and passed the pre-Service precautionary screening comprising the health and travel declaration and temperature checks,” the cathedral’s Covid-19 management team said in the notice.

It also encouraged members to comply with the Ministry of Health (MOH) for contact tracing and seek verification from MOH on the authenticity of calls.

The authorities announced 32 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of infected patients here now to 345.

Of these, 159 are imported cases and the remaining 186 cases are locally transmitted cases.

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