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| On the morning of the 4th, Christians are holding an Easter service at Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul. 2021.4.4/News1 © News1 Reporter Park Se-yeon |
Amid growing concerns about the ‘4th pandemic’, with new coronavirus infections (Corona 19) recording 500 new cases for five days, on-site worship was held in various places in downtown Seoul to celebrate the biggest Christian season,’Easter’.
Due to concerns about the spread of Corona 19, there was a church that replaced worship online last year, and celebrated Easter with on-site worship this year. However, they were trying to comply with the quarantine guidelines, such as checking for fever, using hand sanitizer, and checking whether to wear a mask.
At the Chodong Church in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where the Easter service was held on the 4th, many believers who had not attended the field service so far gathered. There were also families with children, but most of them went to church alone.
Kim Mo, a woman in her 60s, said, “Recently, I couldn’t go to church because of the corona, and I had symptoms like depression.
Currently, religious facilities in the metropolitan area can attend worship services within 20% of the total number of seats in accordance with the second stage of social distancing. In the non-metropolitan area, stage 1.5, the limited number of people is 30%.
Accordingly, the Chodong Church also limited the number of seats to 110, about 20% of the 560 seats for worship. Seats that can be seated at a certain distance are marked inside the chapel.
“Last year’s Easter service was done in a non-face-to-face video, but this year, it’s fortunate to be able to do it face-to-face.” Said.
Before the start of the service, local governments also visited the church to check the quarantine situation, such as the number of attendees and ventilation. On this day, Seoul city inspected 1259 religious facilities including 1,154 churches.
An official from the quarantine authorities explained, “The overall quarantine rules were well followed.”
However, in some other large churches, it was also confirmed that the distance between people became very narrow when entering the church.
While quarantine rules are generally well followed, concerns remain that this Easter will be a catalyst for a bigger trend. Although there have been corona symptoms, there have been many cases of infection spreading to other members through members who participated in religious events such as worship.
Accordingly, the quarantine authorities are urging, “Please follow the quarantine rules thoroughly to avoid eating or small meals after having an official service.” In the case of actual formal worship, group infection cases were rare, and transmission of infection occurred through small meals or small meals after the worship service.