A few days ago, churches in Linyi, Shandong, and Bengbu, Anhui, remained closed, affected by changes in the response to the new COVID-19 cluster in Beijing.
The Beijing Health Commission said on Monday that 236 total infections were testified related to a local market cluster in Beijing since June 11, when the first case was detected.
The churches which planned to resume worship services on June 21 changed to be closed. All religious activities there are still suspended. Some churches which have reopened will be temporarily closed and need to suspend activities.
On June 18, the Lanshan and the Luozhuang District CC&TSPM in Linyi City, Shandong Province issued notices that the opening of churches would need to be suspended.
The notice said: “The current situation of the pandemic has changed. The number of people returning from Beijing, Hebei, Qingdao, and other high-risk areas is gradually increasing, and further investigation, detection, and isolation are in progress. The risk and danger of groups of people meeting in public spaces are too great. In order to ensure the safety and stability of religious groups in the city, the opening of religious venues will be delayed from today. Those that have been opened will be temporarily closed from now on. The specific opening time will be given at a later time.”
Lanshan District is the most densely populated area in Linyi City, and the Liuqingyuan Church and the Jinqueshan Church will be temporarily closed from now on (the delay time is temporarily 3 weeks), the specific opening time will be given a later date.
From now on, the gatherings of Enquan Church and Meng'en Church in Luozhuang District will be temporarily suspended (suspension for approximately two weeks). The specific opening time will be given at a later time.
Xuehua Christian Church in Bengshan District, Bengbu, Anhui, which was originally scheduled to resume its gathering on June 21, issued a notice that its meetings would be suspended beginning on June 18.
The church still provides Sunday worship information on WeChat for its congregation. It says that for those who have made appointments, please understand that the inconvenience is due to the pandemic.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
