Religious organisations’ leaders to be held accountable for violating pandemic prevention rules resulting in COVID-19 transmission

Hanoi (VNA) – Leaders or representatives of
religious organisations, establishments and congregations will be held accountable if their places of worship fail to follow COVID-19
prevention and control rules resulting in
among dignitaries, followers, and the community, according to the Government
Committee for Religious Affairs.

This is part
of the content of a document from the committee recently sent to
leaders of , asking for enhanced application of anti-COVID-19
measures.

The move followed a COVID-19 outbreak that started from a religious group named “Hoi thanh
truyen giao Phuc Hung” (Revival Ekklesia Mission) in Ho Chi Minh City and
then spread to many localities.

 

Therefore, the Government committee requested leaders of religious organisations to
continue communication activities to encourage their dignitaries, followers, and establishments
to seriously adhere to the instructions on COVID-19 prevention and control.

They were
asked to suspend all religious activities at places of worship and the sites
registered for concentrated religious practices and put up warning signs at those
areas. Religious establishments and sites of religious practices must coordinate
with authorities in contact tracing if any of them records suspected cases.

The Government
committee required religious organisations to update information from official sources on their websites and other means of communications, and disseminate the information to their facilities in remote areas and pandemic hotbeds.

It also recommended
religious organisations call on their subsidiaries, dignitaries, and followers join
hands with authorities in the pandemic fight and contribute to the COVID-19 vaccine
fund.

The COVID-19 cluster at the place of worship of the Revival
Ekklesia Mission group in Ward 3 of Go Vap district, HCM City, was found on late May
26.

As of 3pm on
June 4, there had been 310 infection cases (F0), 5,377 F1s (people directly
meeting the confirmed patients), and over 320,000 F2s (those with close contact
with F1s) related to this cluster.

Apart from 20
of the 22 district-level localities in HCM City, the outbreak from this hotbed
has spread to 15 provinces and cities, with eight reporting infection cases and
seven others recording F1s or F2s.

The numbers
of F0s, F1s, and F2s related to this cluster are forecast to keep increasing on the coming days./.