Coronavirus In Philadelphia: Churches Taking Drastic Steps To Protect Worshippers Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Just about everyone in communities around the region is on high alert over the coronavirus outbreak. Even churches are taking drastic steps to protect worshippers.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has excused local Catholics from attending mass due to the coronavirus outbreak.
New Covenant Church of Philadelphia holds services every Sunday morning. There are traditionally heartwarming hugs and hearty handshakes among its 1,200 members.
But there's a new norm in many places of worship like this one in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
A new message interjected into their Sunday sermons.
"We take it very seriously and last week from the pulpit, I communicated that we should refrain from hugging, from handshaking," Pastor Bob Oliver said.
Oliver says his church is taking steps to protect its most vulnerable members -- the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
"We have people in our congregation who are elderly, who we love with our whole heart, we want to protect them," Oliver said. "We have a team of physicians and nurses who I'm working with to develop information that we can post on our website, that we can communicate and make certain that people get information they need to stay healthy."
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Changes have also come to the Catholic Church with Catholics across the nation altering mass.
Masses are suspending the use of shared chalices during communion.
Many priests are also asking parishioners not to shake hands.
For now, thoroughly sanitizing places of worship is a top priority.
"We have Purell stations all around. We also have made certain that we have disinfected surfaces, every doorknob, every entryway," Oliver said.
With the fear of coronavirus spreading throughout the region, even the faithful need words of solace.
"Keep the faith, resist the germs. Knowing that God is able to protect us from any and everything, but we also have to be responsible, smart citizens," Oliver said.
Oliver says he may have to resort to live streaming his sermons if the coronavirus outbreak continues to worsen.
