Several places of worship across Rwanda have come up with innovative ways to help observe Covid-19 preventive measures set by the government, local publication The New Times has reported.
The government recently announced that places of worship could reopen after four months of closure.
These measures include maintaining physical distance among worshippers, having hand sanitizers, infrared thermometers and measures to uphold the use of face masks among others. The number of congregants is also very restricted to avoid overcrowding.
On this note, some places of worship embraced technology to observe the set maximum number of attendants.
Foursquare Gospel Church located in Kimironko Sector, Gasabo district is an example.
“Since last Sunday, we are using a Google Form link that we send to our WhatsApp platforms and people register depending on the church service they wish to attend among the three we have so far,” Bishop Fidele Masengo who leads the church told The New Times on Thursday, July 30.
This, he explains, helps to avoid overcrowding, because there is a set number of attendants that reaches and registration is no longer possible.
He added that when a person is registered, he or she gets a code that he shows at the entrance and they can easily know his contacts with no need to register on paper before entering.
A different church within the country also noted that they are in the process of using a digital method for booking seats in bid to avoid overcrowding.
So far, only few places of worship have been allowed to reopen, however, many of them are still streaming live services and some send audio sermons on WhatsApp platforms as they are in process of implementing set guidelines to be given the right to open doors
