CEBU CITY, Philippines—No religious activities will be allowed to be held in chapels of sitios (sub-villages in English) here for the entire month of July.
This after the Archdiocese of Cebu heeded the request of the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to limit the conduct of religious activities inside chapels in sub-villages due to the recent spike of new COVID-19 cases here.
On Monday, July 5, 2021, the EOC, the Cebu City Government’s dedicated anti-COVID body, met with priests of the Archdiocese of Cebu as they ‘revisited sectors in the city that are prone to mass gathering’.
Msgr. Renato Beltran Jr., chancellor of the Archdiocese of Cebu, said they accepted the appeal of the EOC, urging all parishes to temporarily disallow Masses and festivals in sitio chapels.
“Katong mga chapel Masses… labi nag we have fiestas and novena Masses. Unya naay sa panagsabot unsa may atong compromise lang ana so kung mahimo ari lang ba kaha for this month, wala lang say mga chapel fiestas and Masses for this month. Ari lang sa simbahan,” Beltran told reporters in a press interview.
But Beltran clarified that this policy will not be applied to chapels outside Cebu City.
“Kana siya. Sa province okay ra man,” Beltran said.
“Wala man sad gipasanginlan nga these religious gatherings are the cause nganong nisaka (ang kaso sa COVID-19),” he added.
EOC head and Councilor Joel Garganera said Monday’s meeting was just the beginning of their review on areas or sectors in which public gatherings are inevitable as Cebu City experiences another surge of new COVID-19 cases.
“We in the EOC are meeting, coordinating, and revisiting the different sectors that are prone to public gathering,” said Garganera.
After talking with the Roman Catholic Church, the councilor also said they are expected to meet with managers of bars in Cebu City.
“COVID is very much around, and based on our contact tracing data, every gathering contribute to the rise of our cases. We need a united approach to all sectors in order to bring our cases down,” Garganera added.
The COVID-19 bulletin from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) on July 4 showed that Cebu City’s active COVID-19 cases is about to breach the 1,000-mark.
The city’s number of active COVID-19 cases is at 918 after logging 77 additional ones on July 4.
/bmjo