Sabah church suspends Mass after parishioner tests positive

Aug 08, 2020

KOTA KINABALU: The Church of Mary Immaculate (CMI) in Bukit Padang is closed temporarily till August 18 after one of its parishioners was found to be COVID-19 positive.

Parish priest Fr Paul Lo said he was notified by the Health Ministry that a parishioner who attended the morning English Mass on July 19 and 26 had tested positive for the coronavirus.

“Though according to the Health Ministry we are not required to close down, we have decided to suspend Masses for two weeks, from August 5 to 8 for sanitation of our premises, and as a precautionary measure,” he said in a notice.

Fr Lo explained that the Health Ministry said the church could continue its services if it wished as it had been found to have adhered strictly to regulations.

“But I feel it is better for us to stop Masses for two weeks, beginning tomorrow until August 18.”

He said the decision was made by the church.

Fr Lo said that a name list of some 250 people who attended the Masses have been  handed over to the Health authorities.

Concerns have been raised outside the parish about those parishioners who attended the two affected Masses. “These parishioners should abstain from attending Mass in any other churches, at least for the next two weeks. They must stay home and self-quarantine,” said a concerned pastor of a nearby parish.

Archbishop John Wong took up the same concern in a recently released letter to CMI parishioners (Aug 5). He urged parishioners “to stay home and follow the live streamed   Masses” during this two-week period as a gesture of care towards all.

Although reopening church involves taking the risk of possible cases emerging, especially when they are asymptomatic, Pope Francis cherished the hope that “the people of God can return to communal familiarity with the Lord in the Sacraments, participate in the Sunday liturgy, and resume in their churches the daily frequentation of the Lord and His Word”.

Sabah currently has some 17 active cases of COVID-19. ––By Julia Chan, Malay Mail/ Agnes Chai, CS