Egypt churches reopen after coronavirus closures

Egyptian churches yesterday reopened and held the first mass after a four-month hiatus that aimed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus among churchgoers, the Coptic Orthodox Church said in a statement.

The churches’ reopening is accompanied by strict health and safety protocol and comes as an implementation of the Cabinet Council’s decision, which was followed by instructions by Pope Tawadros of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Christians constitute around ten per cent of Egypt’s population.

Churches have reopened in the provinces of Alexandria, Sohag, Sharqiyya, Beheira, Zagazig, Minya and Beni Sweif.

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The current safety measures include requiring churchgoers to register their names before coming to church, checking their temperatures before they enter the building, making sanitiser and cleaning products abundantly available before and following each mass. Churches will operate on 25 per cent capacity to ensure social distancing.

Churches have also banned handshakes and limited greetings to bows. Worshippers must also wear masks and bring their own prayer beads, books, scarves and water.

The relative easing of measures in Egypt, which includes the reopening of churches, comes after the official numbers of coronavirus cases has dropped significantly, with only 167 new cases reported on Sunday.

The total number of cases in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic is 94,640, including 4,888 deaths, according to Worldometers.