KUCHING: The Archdiocese of Kuching has suspended mass at all Catholic churches within red zone areas during the conditional movement control order (CMCO) from Jan 13 to 26.
This is due to the alarming increase of Covid-19 cases in Kuching, Sibu and Miri which have been declared ‘red zones’.
Archbishop Simon Poh said all churches must comply with the guidelines and suspend mass services to break the chain of infection.
Poh urged parishioners to minimise points of contact from social interactions, large gatherings and inter-district travels and allow time and crucial resources to be focussed on contact tracing and active case detection.
He said churches in Kuching, Kota Sentosa and Kota Padawan will suspend mass services until the end of CMCO on Jan 26.
Meanwhile, churches in Bau, Lundu, Serian, Bunan, Tebedu, Sri Aman, Betong and Saratok may remain open as they are not in the red zones.
The archbishop however urged parishioners to be vigilant and ensure strict compliance to standard operating procedures (SOPs) for churches issued by Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) and SDMC.
Poh also reminded parishioners to reduce or minimise all non-essential trips or visits as every point of contact creates an opening for potential Covid-19 infection.
He said parishioners could follow live-stream mass services on Archdiocese of Kuching Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/arch.kuching/.
