• Chairperson Archbishop Anthony Muheria said those over 65 years should continue to worship from home due to the high danger of death the infection would place them in.
• He said all congregants must wear masks throughout the service.
Image: COURTESY
The Interfaith Council has appealed to churches across the country to strictly adhere to Covid-19 containment measures.
The council in a statement said it has noted with concerns the increasing cases of new infections and deaths.
Chairperson Archbishop Anthony Muheria said those over 65 years should continue to worship from home due to the high danger of death the infection would place them in.
"It is out of concern for them that we give this advice. The religious leaders can look for safe ways to attend to them in their homes," Muheria said.
Muheria said the council met on March 17 to deliberate on how to combat this steep increase in Covid-19 cases within places of Worship.
This comes as the country on Monday reported 12 deaths as 1,130 more people tested positive for the virus.
This was from a sample size of 5,119 that was tested in 24 hours translating to a 22 per cent positivity rate.
Kenya has so far reported 122,040 confirmed cases of Coronavirus.
The total number of deaths stands at 2,023 since the first case was reported in March 2020.
"At this time when the threat is at its highest, we must be even more demanding and strict in all the preventive measures, already issued by the Interfaith Council and Ministry of Health in our places of Worship. The Interfaith Council wishes to insist that all congregants in places of Worship, must sanitize before and after the worship service," he said.
"We must not get tired of constant sanitizing. The Religious leaders should ensure that there is enough water and soap, or enough sanitizers in each place of worship. We request the County Government to assist those economically challenged with sanitisers."
Muheria said places of worship must strictly follow and demand compliance to the social distancing of 1.5m within the places of Worship.
This will comply with the one-third capacity of places of worship.
"All windows and doors should remain open for good circulation. Where possible, it is preferable to have services in the open air," he said.
He said all congregants must wear masks throughout the service.
"We appeal to the Religious leaders to insist on the proper wearing of masks, covering both nose and mouth. The Leaders of the Service must also wear the mask throughout, even when speaking to the Microphone. All those taking a spoken part in the service should also have their masks on when speaking to the microphone," he said.
The Archbishop said wherever possible the temperature of attendants should be checked and those with temperatures above 37.5 C referred to a medical facility.
"All physical contact must be avoided in places of worship, and regular sanitization of microphones or objects used by more than one person done frequently," he said in a statement.
He said this should be done before handing it from one person to another.
"Special attention should be made to avoid crowding while entering or exiting, or any time during the service itself. All Worship services should not exceed 120 minutes, and the places of Worship be sanitized regularly,' he said.
He said churches are encouraged to increase once again the number of services so as to reduce numbers in each service.
"In a special way, during the forthcoming weeks when several faith traditions have solemn periods, all gatherings must adhere to these guidelines and no processions or night vigil services are allowed," he said.
With regards to vaccination, Muheria said the council is happy that the vaccination campaign against the disease has kicked off.
He said they believe it will assist greatly in containing the spread of the Infections.
"We still urge the Ministry of Health to continue giving as much information on the vaccine as possible, as well as address any doubts raised by the public. Nevertheless, we urge religious leaders to encourage our people, especially the elderly, to take this second shield of protection by going to be vaccinated," Muheria said.
He said there is a need for closer collaboration of both National and County Governments with the Religious Bodies and Leaders.
This, he said will help in sensitisation to the grassroots and also make a greater impact on a larger number of Kenyans.
"Let us not forget that our main weapon still continues to be prayer. We cannot also slacken in our intensity of prayers, asking God to intervene and bring to an end this pandemic," he said.