Egypt’s Orthodox churches has on Sunday brought into effect a decision to lessen the number of participants in masses and other religious and educational events, as part of preventive measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The number of participants shall not exceed a maximum of 25 percent of the church’s capacity.
On October 27, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria issued the decision in a statement.
According to the statement, the percentage can also be reduced based on the health situation of each diocese.
The decision is also applied to funerals and wedding ceremonies along with all educational centres and institutions related to churches.
Also, the Coptic Orthodox Church decided to halt all trips and spiritual retreats, third day memorials and baptisms, and to limit priests’ visits to telephone calls.
Egypt has been cautious in anticipation of a second wave of coronavirus infections in the light of the resurgence in cases in several European countries in parallel with the advent of autumn.
So far, the North African country has reported a total of 107,736 coronavirus cases and 6,278 related deaths, according to the latest official figures by the Ministry of Health.
The number of daily cases in Egypt has slightly risen over the past 10 days.
